Shadow of the Colossus: Bound by Oath
by The9Tard
Summary: To venture to the land of the Colossi is forbidden. Yet, if you had no where to go, would you venture there? Lyna makes a deal with Dormin in order to live, but what will be the price? And what kind of friends will she make along the way? Takes place before the events of the game. Will be a trilogy. Rated T for peril and some language. OC
1. The Oath

_So yep, this is a story that's taking place before the events of the Shadow of the Colossus arc. This is the first of a trilogy I'm planning, if this goes anywhere. The other two will take place during and after the game, so that means there may be an alternate ending and all that jazz. XD  
There really need to be more Colossus friendship stories.  
_

_NOTE: Thou means 'you' when talking to a young person or someone inferior. Thy means 'your'. Thee means 'you' when talking to a friend or superior.  
_

_Anyway, hope you enjoy.  
_

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_Chapter 1: The Oath_

It was a dark, stormy night. It had been raining for some time now, with no sign of stopping and had only increased upon nearing the bridge to the forbidden lands. The grassed plains were soaked and the fog became thick. The abandoned road to the bridge of the forbidden lands stretched on, silent with only the sound of rain gently tapping on the ground.

At least it was usually that way on these rainy nights. That night, however, there was another sound added to the ambiance of the rain. It was the patting of horse hooves.

A large snow white horse with a small, single, rider trotted along the abandoned road in a casual manner. The horse's sharp, black, hooves sank into the rock and the mud of the dirt road, staining their shine further. The rider rode bareback and wore a fancy hooded red cloak that seemed too big, and the sides hung over the wearer's legs and sank nearly to the ground. The wind caused the cloak to flow freely all around the horse's sides, causing the rider to shiver through the soaked garment.

The mysterious companions emerged from the fog and continued forward. Even in the horrible weather, the stone bridge was visible to them. The rider lifted her head, piercing green eyes glitter from the shade of the hood. Her face was covered by a black scarf wrapped around her nose and mouth, "Easy Nostoc, not much longer boy."

The stallion gave a snort in reply and trotted a little faster, eager to get his master to the bridge and out of harm's way. Though it would be faster to gallop there, they had been traveling for days now, and both individuals were sore, tired, cold, and hungry.  
Riding bareback was not helping either her or the horse, but she had no time to grab the leather saddle when she ran from her home. The girl did not know exactly what they would find in the forbidden land. All she knew is that she had to get away from her world immediately. The only place she could think to run to was the Land of the Colossi, the home her ancestors were born and forced to flee.  
According to legend, a plague took the land and killed nearly all of the human population there. The survivors, the uninfected, had to escape. It was barely a fraction of the populace.

The world was declared cursed, and forbidden to go back under any circumstances. Then it all fell into ruin.

She was a descendent of those people, hundreds of years down the line.

She had been told great things of the 16 stone beasts, unlike the popular belief of the Colossi being horrible monsters.  
However, most of her kind was dead now. They were hunted down by tribes because they were considered cursed, just like the creatures of the forbidden land. This was because of where they came from and their unique, inhuman features. Even despite they were 100% human with some gifts. For example, her people live twice as long as a regular human because they were born in a land of immortals. Though she wasn't 'born' there, people left many, many years ago, it was passed on.  
There were also a lot of physical features that distinguished them as being abnormal.

The two were halfway to the bridge, when she could hear the sound of several galloping horses from behind her. She turned and gave a small cry as she saw five horsemen coming after her. They had long black garments and their cloaks look old and shredded, like if they had seen a lot of battle or were just trying to look scary. She could not see their faces underneath their long black hoods and even their horses were huge and black, galloping at incredible speeds. (Think Ring wraiths).

From what she could see in their hands, three of the men in the front had dark swords that they held out at their sides, and the two men in the back held up bows and arrows.

She had no idea what organization or tribe they were from, but their aura was purely frightening and all she wanted to do was get away from the shadowy figures. She kicked her horse into a gallop and they sped through the fog as fast as they could. Nostoc was very big for the young girl and she had to hold onto the horse's white mane with her hands.  
She didn't turn around, but she could hear the horsemen catching up to them despite their speed. She kept urging the horse to go faster and faster, desperate to escape their frightening pursuers. He was moving so fast that Nostoc was kicking up mud everywhere and the icy rain felt like glass shards slapping against her face.

In their haste, the child's red hood flipped down onto her shoulders, exposing her tan skin and her long hair as white as her horse. Her hair whipped around and pulled itself from under her cloak until it flowed behind her. It was long enough to already reach down her back, and, as part of her heritage, would keep growing until the day she died.

As she kicked the stallion to go faster, he was becoming exhausted. He hadn't eaten or rested properly in days and his strength was starting to fade, but his determination kept him going. He wasn't just going to fail his friend and let her die. He was a special breed, taken care of by special beings such as her and her family. He was given benefits himself just from being raised on the crops the humans gave him. This made him abnormally tall for a horse, and he had incredible strength, speed, endurance, and intelligence above a regular horse.  
Not as smart as a human, but smart enough to know what he had to do. He also won't live as long as one of the humans, but he does live longer than usual for a horse. He was originally a brown foal, but as he grew from their special care he gained a bright white coat, same as his master's hair.

The girl could hear Nostoc panting furiously as he strained himself to go faster. She knew he was strong, but even this was pushing his limits. She hated to have to do this, but they can't afford to be captured by those things.

Finally they neared the bridge, and at the very end of it was what looked to be an enormous shrine. Before they could get across it the two horsemen with bows shot arrows at them. Two of the arrows hit her and pierced her back and shoulder all the way through. She cried out and collapsed onto the stallion's neck. The pain was unbearable and she nearly passed out, but she knew they had to keep going. Sensing his master's condition, Nostoc moved even faster until his hooves didn't smash the mud but instead trampled onto the stone floor of the bridge.

As soon as they started running across the bridge, the wounded girl looked behind her and saw that the five dark horsemen were no longer chasing her. In fact, it was as if something was holding them back. However, this only lasted for a second when the horsemen suddenly galloped after her again.

The thin stone bridge rumbled from the sound of the horse hooves. The bridge was so long that there seemed no end to it. Then, when they neared the shrine, a searing light erupted from the building.

There was no logical explanation for it, as it was still dark and raining outside.

It was so bright it caused Nostoc to be blinded for a few seconds before he and his rider both crashed down onto the bridge, sliding across into the floor of the shrine and nearly tumbling down the circular stairway.  
While Nostoc lay on his side, the girl crawled from him onto her hands and knees to look back at the horsemen. They and their horses seemed to be shrieking at the blinding light. The men all turned around and fled the light, leaving the girl and her horse behind. As soon as they were out of sight, the light dimmed enough so that it was no longer as intense and the companions could see with ease.

Wounded, the child weakly climbed onto Nostoc's back and he carried her down the circular stairway. Once they reached the end and went past a round pool of water, they came into an impressive hall, filled with ancient stonework and mighty bizarre-looking statues.  
There was a circular hole in the ceiling with odd light coming from it. What was weird was there was no rain coming through, and yet it was still raining outside.

Something else about the light was it wasn't warm and comforting but instead seemed kind of…intimidating.

Nostoc slumped into the hall and collapsed in the middle of it, unable to continue out of exhaustion, his rider rolling off him and to the side.  
The girl was bleeding profusely, and her body felt weak. The adrenaline was wearing off and her strength was failing her. As young as she was, she knew that she was going to die. Even though they escaped capture, she was going to bleed out and Nostoc would be all alone. She knew she had failed and that all of that determination of survival was for nothing.

Angry and hurt, she put her arms around her horse's thick neck and weakly sobbed into his mane. Nostoc simply laid his head on her shoulder, as if he was trying to comfort the child.

In the middle of her sorrow, however, a voice erupted above them, **"Who art thou?"** it said deeply.

It spoke in an ancient tongue she was familiar with, the tongue or her people.

The girl stopped sobbing and looked up at the light with tears in her eyes.

The light spoke to her, **"Thou have no place in this Forbidden Land. So we ask again, who art thou? Why dost thou cry? Speak, child, and do not lie, for we shall know."**

Scared, the girl pulled the scarf off of her face and weakly replied, "Wh-What are you? A demon? Or a god?"

"**We have been called both."** The voice spoke, **"We are both. We are Dormin, child. And who art thou? Answer us this time."  
**She'd heard of Dormin before, but nobody really knew that much about them except that they were the light of the land.  
The girl wiped her tears and said a little louder, "My name is Lyna, and this is my horse, Nostoc."

"**Unusual names for a horse and a human. Then again thou art unusual, hmn?"**

Lyna looked over to Nostoc, "I cry because soon I will die of blood loss. Dormin, if you really are a god or a being of power, please, can you heal my wounds? We have traveled very far to come here. I have nowhere else to go."

"**Why art thou even here?"**

She looked back to the light, "I am here because I was born here, and I seek shelter and protection from the outside world." She slumped down into a pitiful bow with her head to the floor, "Please, great one, don't let me die like this. I may be one of the last of my people. Please…"

The voice bellowed in loud laughter.

The sound nearly caused Nostoc to jump to his feet out of fright.

When Dormin stopped, they said, **"We knew thou looked familiar! Thou were born in this land. How proud thy kind was. Now look at thy fate! A soaked wretch, barely fit to be in the same chamber that holds our presence!"**

Their words made her angry and she looked back to the light with venom, "Do not look down on us! We have been through enough. If you are not going to help then fine! I'll accept my fate! But you will not insult my people's memory!"

They were quiet for a few seconds before he spoke again, **"Mighty spirit for a child. We did not say we would not help. We can and will help. For a price..."**

"Of course." Lyna spat, "Fine, what is it you want of me?"

"**We will not say, but we will shall upon thou in time. Thou will be bound into our debt, and thou will repay it with whatever we ask, whenever. Understand?"**

The girl, becoming tired enough to pass out, bit her lip. She knew she might be making a deal with the devil, but she didn't really have much choice here, "I…I agree. I will do what you ask, Dormin."

"**Good."** they boomed.

The light suddenly beamed brightly again. The light seemed to envelop Lyna and Nostoc, blinding them both. She cried out as she felt the arrows disappear from her shoulder and back. Soon after the wounds closed and the pain faded away. When the light dimmed, she fell back down onto her hands and knees. While she was in that position, she glanced over to her right hand that suddenly tingled. To her surprise, her hand had a glowing symbol on the surface. It looked like a hollow head with two horns.

Then Dormin spoke again, **"Thou will be weak because of the loss of blood, but thou will live."** She stood and stumbled back into Nostoc, **"Now thou art bound to us. Remember thy promise. Thou will not speak of it to anyone and not break it or will suffer the consequences."**

The symbol on her hand faded from view.

She gripped Nostoc's mane with her fingers and gritted her teeth, "I guess I can take my leave then?"

"**Yes, be off into our world child. Do not attempt to leave, and do not forget thy promise. We will never forget."**

She just nodded and weakly pulled herself onto Nostoc. She slouched as the horse trotted out of the altar chamber and into a grassy plain that stretched far into the Forbidden lands. It had stopped raining, but it was still night time.

She shivered, as her clothes were still soaked. Lyna put Nostoc into a fast trot as they looked for a place to rest for the night.

They made a camp near a large river of clear blue water. She and Nostoc slept on the ground near each other. This was shortly after she hung most of her clothes up to dry.

As the girl slept, something was moving in the water. It watched them from the deep; attracted to a feeling it had since she got there. Its brilliant blue eyes beamed with hope and it quickly swam away from the sleeping companions.

* * *

_I bet you can guess who that is in the water. XD  
So, what do you think?_


	2. An Unpleasant Encounter

_So continues this crap. I imagin that Colossus are capable of speaking the same olden language as Dormin, you know, for obvious reasons.  
_

* * *

_Chapter 2: An Unpleasant Encounter_

Hydrus hadn't been this excited in a very long time. She swam as fast as she could back to her magnificent underwater home and told any fish she met what she had seen. The water serpent knew that this was of the utmost importance. A human had come back to their land. She didn't have to see the girl's white hair to confirm that.

She wondered if she should tell any of the other Colossi yet. No, she should wait until morning. Most of them aren't too happy when woken, even if it's a nap. So she sank to the bottom of her lake to sleep herself, though she really doubted that she'd be able to with all this excitement.

Early in the morning, Hydrus swam as fast as she could to the other Colossi she could reach. On her way, she ironically came across a Colossus she wasn't expecting. It was Kuromori, the ill tempered gecko she considered a brother, along with Phalanx as a sister.

He was sun basking by the river, not far from his stone arena. A few black lizards with white undersides had gathered near him, basking as well.  
He seemed in a bad mood once again, but his irritated orange eyes brightened into a dim blue for a second once he caught sight of her, "Hey Hydrus." He huffed.

Hydrus froze before swimming up to Kuromori. She lifted her head under the water just high enough so that her large nose was almost touching his chin, "Hello Kuromori."  
Her eyes turned a bright blue while his was still dim and faded back to orange, "Yeah yeah."

Hydrus hummed a bit, "Someone's in a bad mood today, well, again." She glanced behind him and saw trees with holes through them and scorch marks in the ground, "Oh Kuro, you started blasting things again?"  
"Well I'm mad alright!" he hissed, "And when I get pissed it makes me want to blow up things! And I'm bored too."  
He turned his head to the side so that he wasn't facing her anymore, "Damn humans and damn this place. What am I supposed to do all day? Wait until I finally brittle away like Gaius? A curse on such a life. Why can't we cross the bridge and get out of here?"

Hydrus let out a long sigh, "Kuro, please…" she touched her nose gently to his cheek, "Don't be so full of hate. You'll brittle faster, and you know why we can't cross the bridge. We'll fall apart, remember?"

The gecko let out a similar sigh and looked at her, "Doesn't mean I have to like it. Hell, I miss scaring people out of my arena. It was funny then, now it just makes me feel bad now that they're all dead."

Hydrus's eyes suddenly shimmered a bright happy blue that startled Kuromori, "But they're not all dead! Haven't you felt it? A human born here has returned!"  
Kuro gasped and backed from her, "What? How is it possible! They all either died or fled during the great plague!"  
"Not anymore!" Hydrus excitedly replied, "One has returned, and that is what I was going to tell the other Colossi I could reach. In fact, can you go greet the human? She's alone and I don't know how aware she is of our kind. I think it would be best if she was at least welcomed here. That way she won't be so frightened when she sees some of our bigger, uh, friends."

Kuromori scoffed, "Meh, I don't know…Do I have to Hydrus?"  
"Please brother? Just as a favor to me?" she pleaded, "You said yourself you were bored, well here's something for you to do. Go find and meet her. I saw her down the river a few miles back. You'll know when you near her. Can you do that for me brother?"  
"I guess I can, sis." He sighed.

Hydrus nodded and lowered herself back into the water. Once she did, she swam off down river, but not before calling back, "And be nice!

He growled a bit when she said that, "Sure, right. I'll be nice. Pfft, how hard can it be?" he asked himself as he scampered down the river in the opposite direction as Hydrus. He wasn't too optimistic though; being nice, especially to humans, never was his strong point.

Lyna had awoken to an overcast of clouds. This dimmed the sun and shadowed the day. The only amount of bright light was the little over the bridge temple, who she guessed was Dormin. Nostoc was still asleep on his side.  
She smiled and put her blanket over her horse and stood, walking next to the river and stretched. Once she did, she looked around.

It was a damp day, the grassy fields were covered in fog and the air felt thick, but it was still beautiful, almost mystical. However, something didn't feel quite right. There was an aura of…sadness about. Though it was pretty, the Forbidden lands weren't exactly the lush paradise her parents had described that had been passed down.  
In fact, it seemed always so dark, even depressing. It wasn't just the weather. She could see how the grass didn't flow, or how the leaves stood still.

It all seemed…dead.

Taking her mind off it, she looked back to her horse, wondering if the Colossi were still alive after all this time away from humans. Were the stories about them true? If so, where would they be?  
She had seen their idols in the Shrine and would have inspected them further if she wasn't so preoccupied at the time.

She looked around once again though, suddenly feeling very strange. As if she was being watched…

Just as Lyna thought this, she heard and felt a small tremor beneath her feet. At first she assumed it was a distant earthquake, but when she turned to her side she was met with a horrid sight. A large monster emerged from the fog, like a nightmare, running to her at a great speed on four big legs.

It had to be a Colossus.

Lyna screamed and fell to her back as the Colossus approached her, stopping at her feet and looming over. The mist no longer covering the creature, she could see it in full. The Colossus was made of black stone that shaped and carved around his body and, kinda ugly, face. His eyes were a piercing, irritated orange that seemed to look right through her.  
What was unique about him were the jagged layers of black stones that looked like spikes on his back, and they were pulsing with orange energy as he stumbled around on all fours.

Lyna sucked in her breath as, to her surprise, the Colossus spoke to her in her ancient language, "Will you stop wallowing human and view me as a great being instead of a monster? Uh…I mean…hello…"

His voice was deep, agitated, and frightening.

He bent his head down, which only made her scream louder and jump to her feet. Nostoc had woken and stumbled to his hooves. The horse looked around, confused and startled by the Colossus.

The stone gecko's eyes sparked red as he was starting to lose his temper, "Stop screaming! I'm not going to hurt you! I'm here to greet you to our home you stupid human!"

Lyna ran away from him and behind Nostoc, fear marked on her face.

The Colossus became even angrier. A human had finally arrived, and she was afraid of him. She was no different than any human out there, despite being born in their world. He never liked humans very much, never even had a human friend, and she certainly wasn't helping his irritation.

The Colossus hissed at her as Nostoc stood protectively in front of Lyna, "Okay, look, my name is Kuromori, alright? Now what's yours? Speak up!"

Lyna, knowing that name, quietly answered, "Lyna…and…you are Kuromori? The great Gecko Colossus?"

The stone gecko scoffed at her, "Of course I am! I just said so!" Lyna stared at him and said, "Wow, you certainly are bitter as they say, huh?"  
"Don't you dare lecture me, girl." He snapped, slamming his tail into the ground.

It terrified her to a point that she hugged Nostoc, "Don't hurt me!"

Kuromori, unable to do an eye roll, rolled his head, "I said I wasn't going to hurt you!" when he yelled that, he stomped a foot out of frustration.

Not believing the gecko, Lyna hopped onto Nostoc's back and made him gallop away.

Kuromori growled when they ran off, "Fine! Get someone else to welcome you! This is what I get for trying to be nice! Damn it!" He bickered as he scurried off.

Lyna and Nostoc ran as far as they could. Lyna had never been so scared. That bad-tempered Colossus had frightened her more than those horsemen! Okay, maybe not more, but pretty close! Her parents always said Colossi were wise, benevolent creatures that protected the land.

Well, that one sure wasn't!

She should just go back across the bridge before she meets another one or him again, but, she can't leave. Dormin forbade it and she was bound by her oath.

She was already starting to regret it.

* * *

_LOL, how come in every fic with Kuromori talking is he the one who's the jerk? Ain't his persuasion skills impressive?_


	3. Meeting the 10th

_This one's a bit longer than I intended..._

* * *

_Chapter 3: Meeting the 10th_

Later on, after her rather unpleasant encounter, it had become high noon. The grey clouds hung over them, making her realize just how hungry they both were. Even in this desert area, it had already begun to sprinkle again. Her stomach growling, she desperately needed some food for both her and Nostoc. At least there was plenty for Nostoc to eat because of the grass, but she wouldn't last long without anything.  
Trotting along the sandy fields, she was about to turn back and look for a grassier area when by some miracle she happened to notice some trees in the distance. Knowing it's not hot or sunny enough for it to be a mirage, Lyna excitedly made Nostoc gallop towards the plants.

Sure enough, when they arrived she noticed the tree had several yellow fruits hanging from its branches.

Happy, she jumped off Nostoc and began the process of climbing the tree. It was easy to do, for she climbed many trees when she was a little girl. Well, littler.  
After retrieving some of the precious fruit and making her way back down, she hesitated as she brought them forth. Though they looked good, what was to say they weren't poisonous? Looking to Nostoc, she knew that she was desperate here and it could be hours again before they find any other suitable food. Perhaps she could head back to the temple and ask Dormin for help later?

Cautiously, she took one of the smaller pieces and bit into it, waiting for some kind of foul taste or stomachache. To her pleasant surprise, the fruit was sweeter and fresher than anything she's ever had. Not only that, but it happened to be good for her because she waited several minutes for some kind of side effect. Seeing as there was none, she happily finished her piece and shared some of the sweet fruit with Nostoc.  
The horse seemed to get tired of the flavor and instead turned towards a nearby bush. It had black and white berries on it, and the smell got his attention. The horse trotted over and munched a few of the berries.

Lyna got nervous and waited for a negative effect to take over her friend, but nothing happened. Relived, she let him have his fill and was content with the fruit from the trees.

Though she knew that sooner or later she'd get tired of fruit and would have to seek out other meals, this was suitable for now and defiantly sated their hunger.

Wiping her face off with her sleeve, she looked around, "Now all we need is a cave to find shelter in, else we'll both get soaked to the bone again!" How could such a cold and foggy morning have turned into such a muggy afternoon?  
Not even hiding under the tree would do, for it would not protect them from rain. They needed something sustainable.  
Though it was true she could just hide out in the shrine while she was there, something about it didn't make her comfortable. It wasn't just because Dormin would be watching over, it was something that bothered her ever since she stepped foot there. Something just felt…evil…there.  
Out here, it was fresh and felt safe, it was just too wet!

After looking for a bit, she suddenly noticed a rather large cave there in side of the mountain. At first she thought it was just a shadow, but she could defiantly see it was an opening.

Feeling reassured at the promise of shelter, she and Nostoc made their way to the cave, happy to get out of such dreadful weather.

When they were underneath the canopy of stone, Nostoc shook himself of the water on his skin. Dripping wet, they walked through the caverns, the rain outside becoming more distant the deeper they went in. Lyna began to grip the reins nervously, beginning to feel a little tense. Dark caverns were always ominous, but these seemed a little strange. This rock was too smooth, too large to be a natural formation. It almost looked like something carved it…

Desperation was starting to set in, but she hesitated to turn around. Curiosity was clouding her judgment as they went deeper in the cave. Before long, they came upon a vast cavern filled with sand. A giant hole was in the middle of the rocky ceiling, oddly preventing any rain from falling through, but other than that it was just a big sand-filled room.  
Lyna petted Nostoc's head when she felt him shift uncomfortably, "Easy…" she whispered, eager to look around.

She kicked him into a small trot, the horse struggling to not slip on the sand, towards the center of the cavern, just under the hole in the ceiling. When she pulled him into a stop, she looked up at the ceiling, seeing the rain there clearly. What was odd is there seemed to be an invisible force field of some sort keeping the rain from falling in the sand cave, "That's weird…" she muttered, "Must be some kind of magic, but why do that?"  
While she was pondering this, they suddenly felt another small tremor, though this one much different. It was a large one, the sand shifting slightly around them.

Lyna gripped her horse's reins, trying to keep them both calm, "What was that?"

After a few more seconds of nothing another tremor was felt, this one larger than the last. The sand near them started to cave, making what looked to be a large sinkhole. Lyna immediately made Nostoc back away from the hole, knowing full well how dangerous those could be.  
Once they were a safe but close distance, she looked into the hole, confused by what had caused it.

Then, a giant creature popped his head from the sandy vortex, causing Nostoc to rear up in surprise and throw Lyna from his back.

Out of instinct, the horse ran to the right when the stone monster threw himself at them, separating Nostoc and Lyna. It dove back into the sand, pulling its large and long body through it. To Lyna, it looked like some sort of Sand Serpent Colossus.  
The girl scrambled to get to her feet but before she could the monster did a sharp turn in the sand and threw his head out once more.

Lyna screamed at the two very large orange eyes staring back at her, right through her soul like Kuromori's.

Nostoc tried to turn around to save his master, but he slipped in the sand and topped over, leaving him slightly dazed.

Too scared to run, Luna dropped to her knees and held her arms pathetically over her head and face, as if they would protect her from the Colossus's attack.

She knew that it was going to ram into and bury her down in the sand, no hope of survival. She bit her lip and waited for the impact, upset at the thought of dying here, so soon after she escaped death, and for nothing!

Just before he reached her, the impact never happened. The sound of movement completely stopped, and she felt drops of sand hit her.

Warily and slowly, she opened her eyes again and removed her arms, only to nearly jump into the roof of the cave when she came face to face with the Colossus. He was just sitting there, staring back in what looked to be confusion, as limited as his expressions were.

After a few seconds, his orange eyes flickered down to a calm blue, a color she hasn't seen yet from them. In return it made her a little calmer and less afraid of the creature, making her lower her arms slightly.

"You're….here…" he said, his voice dry, filled with dirt and deep sorrow. His jaw moved awkwardly and sand tumbled out of it, like he hadn't spoken in years.  
The creature's words rumbled and shook the walls of the cave, "I…I must be dreaming. You were all…dead. This can't…be real. You're not real…are you?"

Before she could answer him he nudged her side with his stone snout, causing her to fall over, "No, you're…real? You're really real?" happiness was apparent in his tone, "This is-I-I can't believe it! The others…must know!" as excited as he was, he still spoke slowly. Was that just how he talked? Or was he…not all there?

He stopped and looked around the cavern, "Oh! Look at this…place! First human…here in-how many years-and it's a…mess!"  
"Excuse me!" Lyna called up to him, getting back to her knees and brushing herself off, "I don't mean to be rude, but why did you attack me? And who are you?"

There were only two Colossi she knew came out of the sand, but she wanted him to tell her himself.

The Colossus stopped talking and looked down to her again, "Forgive me, I didn't mean to hurt you, or your steed." He gestured with his head to Nostoc who came to Lyna's side, "It's just, I felt unfamiliar movement in…my cave that I hadn't recognized…in years and I got spooked. So I…had to make sure it wasn't…anything that could mean…me or my cavern harm, but if I knew it was just a…little girl and horse I would…have never attacked you." He came out almost sheepish, embarrassed even at his rash act, "My name is Dirge, the tenth Colossus created. You are?"

Every time he paused in his sentences, it looked like it took a moment to choose words. That's how he was. Slow and…forgotten.  
Like gentle shifting sands…

It was very strange indeed. Lyna knew a little about Dirge. He was the Guardian of the caves and temples of this land, responsible for protecting them from vandalism and keeping them in good condition. The beautiful caves and bridges he carved were gateways to other areas humans couldn't reach. That way they wouldn't have to go around a mountain to get to the spring and such.  
Not many humans seemed to interact with him because of his location and frightening appearance, so she didn't really know what his personality was like.

Well, now was a good time to find out.

She stood up this time and leaned against her horse, "I'm Lyna, and this is my horse and friend, Nostoc. Nice to meet you Dirge."

She smiled at him. She decided he was nice, even though he just tried to kill them both. He was defiantly better to talk to than Kuromori, and at least Dirge's anger was understandable. He was just protecting himself; the Gecko Colossus just had a bad attitude.

When he smiled at him, it made the stone creature beam inside. He hadn't seen another smile at him in so long it caused his mandibles to pull back into his version of a grin. It wasn't a pleasant sight as it just made him look scarier and revealed the sharp stone teeth in the back of his jaws.

It deterred Lyna for a second, but when his eyes became a brighter blue it once again calmed her.

"Pardon my…excitement, child, it's just…you have no idea…how happy I am to see…someone." He said, moving a bit to their side in the sand, "I've been…so lonely, and I've lost all…hope humans would ever come here…again a few hundred…years ago."

Lyna cocked her head to the side, "Yes, I've heard the stories of your rare interaction. Why are you so lonely? Don't the other Colossi come to see you?"

He sighed, "Barely. Most of the…others are just too big to fit into my caves…or too far. I can't…carve the tunnel any bigger else risk a cave in. Occasionally, Celosia and Cenobia come…here, but it's such a long journey I'd rather not…burden them for my sake. And I barely ever…see Hydrus-" he stopped, his eyes drifting to the wall for a second.

Now, that was odd. Why would he mention Hydrus? From what she knew the Sea Serpent lived in the water, so the chance the two would ever interact is very unlikely.

He seemed to sense her suspicion and quickly changed to someone else. "Kuromori visits…me the most now."

She let a groan escape her, "Oh no, that can't be very fun."

He huffed a bit, looking slightly offended, "I admit my Gecko friend may be…rash, but he isn't that bad when you get to know him. He's softer than he lets…off; you just need to be as stubborn as he is. He never says…it…but I think he visits me not just cause he's bored. I think he…feels bad I'm alone so much…Don't tell him I said that, it'll hurt his pride."  
A chuckle escaped him, ringing dry and hollow, "Humans…used to come here sometimes…but…they're gone now."  
His head dipped and his bright blue eyes dimmed to a dark grey, looking empty, "So I've just stayed…here, carved the stone and lost track of time in my own…self pity. It's surprising my…depression hasn't caused me to…brittle. Certainly not fitting…of the mighty tenth Colossus, no?"

She frowned at him. Dirge was never the most visited of the Colossi, and was more of a mystery to people. To know how lonely he was back then and how worse it has become was…horrible. It explains why he seemed a little…off. Anyone would have gone insane by now, or can a Colossus go insane?  
How sad it was, to be alone for so long in such a big place. It almost reminded her of how alone she was without her parents…

Lyna shook away those thoughts and instead focused on the depressed Colossus before her, "You poor thing. Why don't you just leave your cave?"

He cocked his head at her, aghast, "And go…outside? In the fields? I…I can't. Even if I…did there'd be no point. I can't burrow through the stone…bridges, too dangerous. I can't swim, I can't fly, and I fear the…damage I could to my friends' homes."

"But surely you can compromise?" Lyna took a few steps towards him, "It should be easier for them to meet you in the open? I'm sure they've missed you too."

He shook his large stone head sluggishly side to side, "No…please. I can't go back up there. Where…the sunlight is…the rain…the ruins of the people who lived…" he stopped again, his eyes becoming an even darker grey, "I can't do it. Not now…I can't go back up there…"

Before she could say anything, he moved his head down and buried it in the sand. Part of his arched back was the only thing showing. It was a rather silly position. It looked like a Colossus version of an Ostrich's head in the sand. For a million year old creature supposedly full of wisdom, that was pretty odd.

Nostoc walked to the partially buried Colossus and pawed at his stone back. He shifted, and there was muffled, "What?' from beneath the sand.

Lyna leaned down and spoke loud enough so he could hear her, "Mr. Dirge, if you don't mind, the reason we came here was to escape the storm outside. We would like to stay here for a little while-"

He popped his head out of the sand, covering both figures in it.

Lyna began coughing and shaking the grains out of her hair when he spoke again, "You're more than welcome to stay!" He immediately offered.

She shook her white hair and backed away from the creature, "At least until the storm's over, okay?"

He nodded, but seemed satisfied.  
Dirge buried into the sand completely and emerged on the other side of the cave, "Enjoy your stay here, human. I must contact Malus."

Lyna cocked her head, "The Titan? But…I thought you couldn't leave." "I can't." he admitted, "That's the beauty of…magic, child."

"I see." The girl looked back up to the ceiling, "Though I have to ask, Dirge. What's with the field over the ceiling?" He followed her gaze, "Oh, that's Malus's work…again. See, I HATE water, and I really hate…mud. So he used magic…to keep rain from falling in my cave. It keeps…me from getting irritated and having…to dig it out."

She nodded in understanding, and Dirge simply bowed his head, "Now excuse me, I won't be able to respond for a minute."

With that, he stared forward and his eyes became a dim grey, so dark they were nearly black. He stopped swaying and became motionless in the sand, looking very much like a lifeless statue indeed. Was he really contacting the Titan? What other secrets could these creatures possibly hold?

Relaxing, Lyna slumped into the sand, the grains sticking to her mildly wet clothing. She started to shiver slightly from the clothing and pulled her knees to her chest. Nostoc nuzzled against the side of her head and plopped behind her. She leaned back, sighing at her horse's warm flank. It felt good and dimmed the chill from the cold. She wasn't tired enough to sleep, but the adrenaline from before had worn off and she felt a little exhausted. She just needed to rest for a while.

She looked over to Dirge, and he was still stationary. The girl leaned her head against Nostoc's side and said out loud, "What do you think they're talking about, Nostoc?"

The horse snorted a bit in response, but he had no idea.

Dirge remained still, his thoughts gliding out into the unknown.

_Malus, can you hear me?_

Something brushed against his mind, like cool fingers to water.

_**Yes, my old friend. I can hear you well.**_

His voice echoed and rumbled loud around him, but not in an intimidating way. Rather, with a mystical and exotic edge. There was a type of fog, surrounding the world like a deep rain forest.

_Malus, did you know-_

_**Yes, Dirge. I was able to feel the child's presence the moment she stepped foot on the bridge.**_

_Then…then we must tell the others!_

_**Most of them already know. Surely you felt the same?**_

_I did feel something…but…I had no idea…_

_**They will know one way or another. They'll either get the information from me or Hydrus. She immediately started telling everyone she could reach before the girl met you.**_

Hydrus was always excitable. Dirge wouldn't be lying if he said that's part of what he admired about her, the bubbly attitude. It was very different from his own timid ways.

Then a question hit him from Malus.

_**I sense her presence is near yours, and she is safe, correct?**_

_Of course._

_**That is good. It has been too long since we have been separated from the world. Many of our kind have lost themselves in depression, you of all know this. Now there is a chance that more may come.**_

_And if they don't?_

_**Then we will continue like we always have. The child simply being here is enough hope for many. Already I feel the weight of sadness from the land and others lifting, you included.**_

The Colossus felt some swell of gentleness in his chest and knew what Malus spoke of was true. Well, when was it ever not?

_But Malus, what are we to do? Surely the presence of one child can't restore this land to what it originally was alone._

_**That doesn't matter, all that matters is that she's here. There is still someone alive that came from this world. That means, there is still a chance.**_

_Always the optimistic one, my friend._

A throaty chuckled echoed in his mind, but when it died down everything was silent. This telepathy only works one way. If Malus was deep in thought, there was no real way to be certain on his side.

After eerie silence, his voice broke through again.

_**Dirge?**_

_Yes?_

_**The girl is safe with you?**_

_Yes, right here in my cave with her steed. Why?_

_**You know as Guardians it is our duty to protect humans from harm too great for them to handle.**_

_True, but Malus I'm not that kind of Guardian. I'm just the architect for the great tunnels and bridge. My duty is to guard rocks…_

_**Don't sell yourself short. You are noble and strong, your armor proves that. The child has already had a run in with our friend, Kuromori, and he only frightened her. I scolded him, but he of course refused to answer. The only other comments I got were words related to 'damn' I believe.**_

_Oh Kuro, such a stubborn child…_

_**He is, but that is not the point. The point is you are the first she has met that she's not completely afraid of.**_

_Oh no, surely you can't be trusting me with the responsibility of the human?_

_**Why not? You are large, and most enemies are frightened of you. The child is already feeling safe around you, and I can sense a protective instinct taking over. You are a perfect Guardian.**_

_But I am trapped here, in the cave, and from many areas of the land._

_**If the girl wishes to explore, I'm sure the others in that area have no problem looking after her, but for now I believe you should be her rightful Guardian. As is your responsibility, you will protect her from any true threat and from Dormin as best to your abilities.**_

Dirge remained silent, but his silence answered Malus.

_**Doubt is within you. If you honestly believe you are incapable of doing this, then I will not burden such a responsibility on your shoulders, my friend. Know, though, that I believe you are strong enough.**_

What should he do? He honestly thought he was incapable of such a responsibility. True, he was strong and noble…humbly, but to be trusted with protecting a child? A girl of their world, unseen for years? She had the potential to learn much from them and inspire prosperity and peace, and they could learn much from her.

If anything ever happened to her under his watch, he'd never forgive himself. He'd brittle away to nothing if that happened. Still, he can't just turn her away. He can't just refuse to help someone because he was 'scared.'

Making up his mind, he responded.

_I can do it. I…I think I can._

_**You have to know, Dirge.**_

_I know I can Malus. I'll protect her. I promise._

_**Very well, if that is your choice, I accept it.**_

The other Colossus sounded happy at Dirge's decision.

_**Now, at sometime in the future, I'd like to meet the child myself, since this is so important.**_

_I agree, she should meet you._

_**Alright then. I'll decide when to call, and don't worry. I'll be sure to not inconvenience you.**_

His presence began to fade.

_**Now, I must go. There is much to do.**_

_Alright Malus, thank you._

Before he faded completely, one more thought clung to his mind.

_**However, Dirge. I must warn you.**_

_What is it?_

_**Be wary of the girl. I don't believe she has ill intentions, but she did pass through the shrine to get here. I know she talked to Dormin.**_

_You don't think…they're planning something, do you?_

_**I don't know.**_

To hear that was chilling by itself. Malus ALWAYS knew.

_**I tried to listen, but I was blocked by Dormin. They shut me out, and that does not bode well. Do not pressure the girl, but try as gently as you can to find out their conversation. If she made any kind of deal with Dormin, there may be doom on the horizon.**_

The thought made him nervous, but he agreed.

_I will, and I'll be careful._

_**Good…good…**_

He faded away at last, leaving Dirge alone in the fog…

His eyes brightened back to their original blue and he turned his gaze to the girl. She was looking at the hole in the ceiling, lying on Nostoc, and watching the rain bounce off the magical barrier.

_Surely such a small thing can't be so sinister, can she?_

He didn't like the idea that his new friend could be dangerous, but caution was what kept you alive. Wasn't it?

* * *

_Sorry for the LONG conversation between the two Colossi. It had to be done.  
_

_I imagine all the Colossi have a hard time interacting with each other, for obvious reasons, but with Dirge I always felt he'd be one of the hardest to reach and loneliest. I also imagined being alone for so long could take a toll on you, even if you're a stone creature. So he talks slow and his attitude is a bit eccentric, but he's not so bad, is he?  
I felt the worst killing him for the first time in the game. This may sound weird, but I think he sounded the saddest and in the most pain when he died. :(_

_Dirge is one of my favorites, despite his creepy eyes. XD  
_


	4. Trusting the Boar

_Chapter 4: Trusting the Boar_

An hour had passed, and Lyna was still lying there. She finally had removed her red cloak and laid it on Nostoc. She stood to her feet and stretched, feeling a little better. She was wearing a baggy lavender colored tunic and black pants that went down to her knees. Her white hair reached down her back, and she had on tied brown leather shoes that went up to her ankles. It was all traditionally made by her and her mother, and she was proud to wear this clothing.

She looked around the Cavern and spotted Dirge. He was rubbing his face and mandibles here and there on the stone wall, smoothing and carving it with the rough stone. It left a very nice, polished surface that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. The mere fact he was straightening up seemed to give him some purpose again instead of an old statue.  
Lyna frowned a bit. Though she just met the creature, and for all his might, she couldn't help but sense sadness in him. Like something was missing.

Was the absence of humans from this world more devastating than she realized?

By now the storm had died down to nothing but gentle sprinkling. She looked towards the entrance of the cave, and wondered about going outside to find more fruit.

Suddenly some odd snorting from Nostoc caused her to spin back towards him.

The horse was coughing and spitting. What horrified her most was he started to foam out the mouth and convulse, "Nostoc!" she screamed and ran to his side, frantically trying to aid him.

Immediately, there was a loud tremor in the sand and Dirge was beside them, "What's wrong?" he gasped, and looked down to the uncontrollable animal. Lyna looked up at him, panic in her voice and eyes, "I-I don't know! He was fine before but now it looks like he's ill or something? I don't kn-know what this is! I d-don't know what to do!"

"Calm yourself…child. Step aside…and let me look." He tried to keep his gravel-filled, loud voice as gentle and relaxed as possible.

Lyna reluctantly stood and stepped aside. When he got closer and lowered his snout so that it was almost touching Nostoc's flank, Lyna tensed. Even if she felt a little safe around this Colossus, he was still a Colossus. He could accidentally damage Nostoc from his sheer size alone.  
But he was gentle and nudged the horse's side tenderly. Nostoc wiggled and convulsed again, more foam coming from his mouth.

Lyna started to cry and desperately yelled, "What's wrong with him? Please tell me you know!"

The Colossus's eyes went from a dim, concerned navy to a shocked neon blue and turned his massive head to her, "Tell me, before…you came here did you eat any fruit?"  
She gulped, horrified at the thought that any second she may end up like Nostoc, "Y-yes." She choked, "I had some from the trees…"  
"No child, that fruit…is fine. Did you have anything ELSE?" his voice had a hurried edge to it, trying to figure it out as fast as he could. He wasn't pausing in his sentences as much.

Catching his urgency, she quickly said, "I didn't…but Nostoc did…H-he had some black and white berries from some nearby bushes-"

"Oh NO!" Dirge exclaimed, rolling his head. He immediately tried to calm himself for her sake, but panic already set in for the girl, "What? What is it? Please tell me!"

Dirge let out a breath that pushed her hair back(Colossi don't breathe, so it's more like wind that comes from their chest)and muttered, "Those berries are poisonous! They were used…by humans for traps or for venomous weapons. It wears off after the meat cooks, but to…directly ingest them is lethal!"

Her face paled and she looked to Nostoc, writhing in pain. Tears began to flow from her eyes. It was the second time she sobbed in the span of two days. How she hated to look like a crybaby.

_Do the hardships never end?_

She looked to Dirge and begged, "Please! There must be something we can do! We can't let him die like this!"

Dirge seemed to hesitate and darted his gaze away from Lyna's, "There is one way, but…I can't…"  
"Tell me! Please!" he heard her fall to her knees, "I'm begging you! Whatever it is tell me I'll do it!" he looked back to her and winced at the tears coming from her eyes.

She was so young, so desperate. It hurt him to see it.

_Only an hour has gone by and something's gone wrong! Oh Malus, what have I agreed to?_

Hesitantly, he answered, "Far from here, there is a shadowed area of trees and shallow streams; right next to a beautiful place we call Misty Falls. There is…a flower I know humans used to use for antidotes against the berries. They were white, with several petals and a…blue center. You can't miss them. Problem is that place is unreachable to me…I can't take you." It really did seem like when he was frantic he didn't pause as much.

"Why not?" she practically screamed, "this is an emergency and you can't leave the cave long enough for that?"  
"That's not the reason, girl." He partially lied. That was part of the reason, "I promised Malus I would protect…you, and you might…run into danger!"

"Since when are you my Guardian?" she demanded.

Her tone and disrespect was starting to irritate him.  
Dirge was mild mannered a lot of the time, but in dire situations his temper tended to spiral. And he wasn't going to stand being yelled at.

He had to keep his tone even and nearly spat back, "Since I promised Malus!" Though he didn't shout, his voice was firm and loud, like a parent scolding a misbehaving child. His eyes flashed a mild orange in irritation.

Lyna took a step back from the Colossus, feeling apprehensive about his sudden attitude change.

He shifted in the sand, calming himself and letting his eyes fade back to blue, "Look, even if you…go by yourself you'll never reach it in time. The trip on..foot would take you hours and even if I wanted…to carry you there I just can't. I can't reach the area. It's across…a very large and thin bridge that I can't burrow through…or slide across, and I fear even I would be…too slow for a round trip and back. If I had to guess, your friend will only…live for another hour. I'm sorry, Lyna…I can't do anything."

She clenched her fists, but didn't yell. Instead, she remained on her knees and bowed her head, sobbing.

Pity and sadness overwhelmed him inside, and his eyes dimmed to show it. What could he do? His hands, so to speak, were tied. He couldn't even hold the girl to tell her it would be okay. Even if he could he'd probably just crush her anyway.

Human emotions worked differently than a Colossus's. Other than anger, emotions for them were slow to grasp and unusual, but humans reacted much faster. How was he supposed to understand?

As much as he wanted to help, he just can't get there…

Wait…

An idea hit him and his eyes dimmed to grey for a few minutes.

When he broke the connection, he looked back to her, "All might not be lost!" she looked to him, tears still covering her face. He did his odd grin, "I contacted Malus again…and asked him to reach Celosia."

She wiped her face, "The Boar Colossus?"

"Yes, she's one of the smallest…but fastest of our kind. If she can't get you to…the forest and back again in time, no one can. She's on her way here now…and will be here any minute. She's small enough to fit in my cave so you don't have to…leave."

Lyna's face brightened up and she stood, "I…thank you Dirge. Really."

A flash of happy blue came over his eyes and grinned a little wider, "You're welcome. I hope this helps. Oh, something…you should know about Celosia. She is kind, but she…is proud and stubborn. Celosia cares about all of us deeply, and…is defensive of every Colossi no matter our size. This goes especially for her…soul brother, Cenobia. It would be wise to…be respectful to her and keep your tone calm. If she was here when you were yelling at me, she would…have probably lost her temper. I don't think she would have…rammed you, you're too small. She would have defiantly nudged…you hard enough to knock you down though. So be respectful, but not coddling. She hates…to think others are 'babying' her, even Malus."

After about 8 minutes, there was a ringing echo of hooves hitting sand coming from the entrance tunnel. Lyna didn't turn around yet, brief fear hitting her. She was still a little scared, and fascinated, by the Colossi, and a new one with a short temper wasn't fun to think about.

Dirge moved his head and looked behind her, and she heard the galloping stop mere feet from her back. He warmly greeted, "Hello, Celosia. It's good…to see you again."

"Likewise, Dirge." Said a deep, but feminine, voice, "I came as soon as Malus woke me from my nap. Hmph, stubborn man."

In the corner of her eye, she saw a figure approach Dirge. He bent his head down and nuzzled her face, stone scraping against stone.  
She sound made her shiver a bit, but he pulled back and the other Colossus turned to her, "So what's wrong with her? She frozen?"

"Now now, is it really…the time for joking?" Dirge cautiously asked.

The girl finally turned her head in Celosia's direction and became surprised. She really was small compared to the Colossi she's seen so far, but certainly just as frightening. A few good feet bigger than Nostoc.

Celosia was completely covered in dark stone, not sand colored like Dirge, but more black like obsidian. It really made the beautiful stone stand out in the desert cave, and Lyna couldn't see moss on her.  
She stone that made her form looked more like the architect of a temple carved it, and she had two big tusks jutting out her face. They looked very sharp, and indeed did represent a boar.  
What was strange was while she had 'hooves', they seemed to have spikes or talons on the rims and edges. They looked more like claws than hooves. Her eyes were blue like the others.

The Colossus took a step towards her and Lyna jumped. Celosia chuckled, "Yeah, that's how most humans reacted to me when we first met. Don't worry kid, I don't bite. Don't have mandibles like Dirge here." Her tone wasn't arrogant, but brazen, "What's your name?"

"L-Lyna." She became urgent, "Please, miss. Nostoc's very sick and I need help-"

"Miss? Cut it kid." She interrupted and raised a hoof at her, "Don't worry about it. Malus explained the situation to me quite clearly. I'll get you there and back before you know it. I've had to do that for humans who needed the antidote and were too weak to make the trip themselves. I remember where it is, Colossi don't forget. Let's not waste anymore time."

Celosia turned to her side, "Hop up."

Lyna hesitated, and Celosia sighed, "Look Lyna, I can't take you anywhere if you don't trust me enough to ride. I might as well just leave."

"No no!" Lyna walked to her, "I'm getting up, I'm getting up…" she warily wrapped her hands around the stone edges of her armor. It was polished and smoother than Dirge's, but still worn after years of absence. It was also a little sharp and nearly cut her skin. Celosia squatted a bit to make it easier for the small girl as she climbed up. Lyna found a foothold on one of the boar's back legs and used to hoist herself all the way up.  
She scooted and squirmed until she was in the center of the Colossus's back and her legs hung over her sides. It was little wider than a horse's, but not so much it was uncomfortable. Though her back was ridged and a little spiky here and there, it was much smoother than her sides and Lyna found a good grip on the stone behind the crook of the boar's neck. The ridges on her side made good hilts for her feet, too.

Celosia, once she knew Lyna was secure, stood back up. Lyna felt the powerful creature move and shift below her, stone working magically by an unknown force. It was amazing.

She shook a bit, getting used to Lyna's weight and was surprised she barely felt anything.

_Does this girl eat?_

She turned to Dirge, who was already looking concerned, "Please be…careful. Bring her back safe." "You worry too much." Celosia puffed herself up a bit, "This is me we're talking about! I'll make sure no harm comes to her pretty little head."

He nodded, and seemed reassured. He had a lot of confidence in her. Well, if Dirge did then why should Lyna worry? They've known each other for many years, right?

Lyna wiped her face and looked up to him, "Look after Nostoc too, please." He agreed, turning his head back to the animal. The horse had stopped convulsing, but was breathing heavily and in pain.

Celosia took a few steps backwards, "Once I'm back, we'll talk for a bit. Okay?" he nodded without looking at her, seemingly relieved at the thought of more company.

The Boar Colossus nodded back and turned towards the tunnel, "Hang on, kid. I'm going to go fast, and I really don't want to risk throwing you off." Lyna understood and hunched down, nearly to her chest, just like she did when she made Nostoc go into a full gallop.

When she was ready, Celosia sped off into the tunnel, leaving Dirge and Nostoc behind.

The sand serpent looked back as they disappeared into the caves.

_Be safe…both of you._

Once they were out of the tunnels, Celosia surprised Lyna when she suddenly went into an intense speed in a matter of seconds.

They were speeding across the grass and dirt, kicking up clomps everywhere. Lyna hunkered down even more and practically hugged onto Celosia's moving form to keep from falling.

_She really IS fast!_

They were across the fields in no time. They passed by the Shrine of Worship, which Celosia steered far from. Lyna looked back to the light over the Shrine, and felt that tense feeling of paranoia. They went past it though, and down the valley to a very long stone bridge. It had two large pillars in front of it, like a stone gate. However, once they reached the stone bridge, Celosia skidded to a stop.

Lyna brushed her windblown hair back and looked down to Celosia, "What's wrong?"

"Sometimes, these bridges are sensitive." She answered, shifting a bit, "They're millions of years old. Though I'm small, I'm pretty heavy. So, we have to take caution when crossing."

So Celosia, one step at a time, crossed the bridge as carefully but quickly as she could. When they crossed the middle, a large Colossus flew overhead and startled Celosia. She didn't spook nearly enough to make her topple over the edge, but it was enough to make her jump.  
Lyna looked up and saw a very large Colossus flying by. It looked to be a great eagle, with large grey stone wings and a long tail trailing behind. Her back was covered in dim green moss, and as she passed them by she looked down briefly, meeting Lyna's green eyes with bright blue ones.

The eagle kept flying away in one direction until she was out of sight.

By now, Celosia kept walking, grumbling to herself. Lyna watched the eagle leave and tugged on the crook of Celosia's stone neck, "Th-that Colossus could fly!"

"Of course she can." Celosia hopped onto the end of the bridge, crossing it completely, "She's one of the only ones that can."

The boar trotted into the woods, but Lyna was still fascinated by what they just saw, "Was that Avion? The Eagle Colossus?"

Celosia squatted so she could climb down, "Sure was. She was probably just flying around when she crossed us. Avion's a kind soul; she would never risk scaring me on a bridge."

"Couldn't you survive such a fall though? I thought you guys were immortal." Lyna asked, climbing off her and looking around the shady forest area.

"We are." Celosia walked to the girl's side, "That doesn't mean we don't feel pain, or that pieces don't break off. Even if I survived, you would be nothing but a smear on my back from that kind of impact."

Lyna winced at the thought, imagining what it would be like to get crushed by a Colossus. Definitely not something she'd ever like to find out.

The forest area they were in was beautiful. The canopy shaded them from the grey sky, but little bits of light peaked through holes in the leaves. The trees were tall and strong, and shallow streams flowed in several places on the forest floor. It was all surrounded by stone walls, much like a big bowl. There were a few large holes in the wall, other exits no doubt.

Around several of the trees' roots were lovely white flowers with blue centers, just like Dirge had described. Lyna rushed to them and picked some, sure these were the flowers they needed, "I got them!" She turned and showed Celosia, who gave her a nod of approval.

Lyna was about to hop onto her back when the sound of a waterfall caught her attention, or rather several. She moved to one of the openings and saw a path along the stone wall that led out of the forest. Looking down the path, she could see it led to the biggest waterfall she'd ever seen. There was a huge arc looming over it that looked like it had been carved and built several years ago. There were also some stone blocks that broke the water into several paths, making it seem like three waterfalls.

It was breathtaking.

Celosia came up next to her, "Beautiful, isn't it? That's Misty Falls, as named by humans. This cavern that holds the falls is so deep, no one's ever tried to scale it."

Lyna smiled, "It _is_ beautiful. I'd like to go over there sometime."

Celosia shrugged, "I'm not stopping you, but Dirge might. Just be careful when you go over there. You have to swim to reach the center and the current is strong. The path that leads inside collapsed long ago, so swimming's the only way. Also, you might be surprised that some of the rocks you sit on move…" she teased.

Lyna looked to the boar, confused what she meant.

The boar's eyes flashed brightly, and she gave a playful laugh, "Human expressions of confusion were always so amusing." She turned again, "Now get up, quickly. We must get back to your sick friend." Lyna immediately obeyed and ripped her eyes away from the falls. She pulled herself carefully onto Celosia's back and clutched the flowers gently in her right arm. She used the other to grip the boar's back and hang on tightly.

Once she was ready, Celosia went back through the trees and across the stone bridge. When her hooves touched the grass of the fields, she sped off again. This time, she was slower to keep the flowers safe and Lyna stable.  
On their way back, Lyna was still thinking about the Eagle Colossus and the mysterious waterfalls. She would definitely have to check them out when she had the chance.

Dirge watched the sick horse with worried blue eyes. He was barely breathing now. The sand serpent would occasionally nudge the animal to make him wiggle and hold on a little longer, but no matter how many times he nudged him now the horse didn't move. On top of that, he was already getting worried for the two that left.

He considered looking for them, when suddenly the familiar echoes came from the tunnel. He turned his head over and saw Celosia and Lyna returning, safe.

He slowly felt relieved and happy once Lyna climbed off her back with the flowers in her arms.

She jogged over and knelt next to Nostoc, "Okay, what do I do with them?"  
"Just feed them…to Nostoc, Lyna…" Dirge answered eagerly, "The flowers will…take effect right away. Problem is…Nostoc may be weak for a while. He won't be able…to move for at least a…day."

Lyna understood, and she didn't mind just as long as he'd be okay. She held the flowers out to her horse's mouth, "Here you go boy. These will make you all better."

The horse's eyes flickered open and looked at the flowers for a few seconds. After some hesitation, he weakly opened his mouth and took the plants from Lyna's hands. He pulled them into his mouth and ate them as best he could.  
Soon after finishing every petal, the horse stopped wheezing and instead gave a sigh of relief. Foam no longer flowed from his mouth, and he felt much better. The horse gave a small snort as a 'thank you' and laid his head back on the sand, exhausted. His stomach ache was fading, but he didn't have the energy to stand. It was like every muscle was made of lead.

"He'll be fine, thanks to you." Celosia added, seeming very proud. Lyna sighed and turned to the two, "No, thanks to both of you. I would have never known about the flowers or reached them in time without your help."  
She smiled at them, and it made Celosia feel good. Yes, the positive emotion was happiness, right? She believed so. She looked to her left and noticed Dirge practically beaming. His loneliness really did run deep…

"You're welcome, human. I'm sure you've already heard this, but welcome to our home." She gave a bow with her head and turned a bit, "Now, as you tend to your steed, please pardon Dirge and I. We must talk."

Lyna didn't pick up of Celosia's slight hostility and instead grinned, "Sure." She turned back to Nostoc and started stroking his side gently, cooing and comforting the healing horse.

Celosia looked up to Dirge and urgently jerked her head for him to follow her. He slithered in the sand while she walked all the way to the far end of the huge cavern.

When they were out of Lyna's earshot, Celosia quickly said, "What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Dirge seemed confused by her changed demeanor.

The boar sat down on her back legs and gestured with her hoof towards Lyna, "The girl? Malus told me she's in your care, but that was the short version. What in the name of the ancestors are you thinking Dirge? You know how hard it is to protect humans, and you've had no experience protecting some for long term. To take care of one…you know that kind of future is uncertain. If she ever ran off-"

Dirge interrupted her with a sigh and turned his gaze away, "I knew as soon as he contacted…you this would be an…issue. I know I can do this…Celosia. Please don't argue…"

She cocked her head to the side and pawed the ground awkwardly with her right hoof, "I'm not saying you're incapable. It's just…your mind. Look, buddy, you're a good friend of mine. I really like visiting you, alright? But lately, you just haven't been all there. I think you might still be having issues after the…plague."

A small snarl escaped his chest, making Celosia jump and stop pawing the ground, "Don't…you dare. That was…millions of years…ago…I've made my peace…"

"You're a bad liar." Celosia growled right back, her eyes beginning to flare, "You know there was nothing you could have done, none of us could have done anything. Even Malus with all his magic and wisdom was at a loss. So don't you sit there and tell me you've gotten over it because I know you haven't! Hydrus can see it and I can see it. You know you can't lie to me, you fool!"

He didn't answer back. Instead he looked at the wall, his eyes becoming an irritated orange.

Her eyes became a darker shade of orange, "Dirge, come on! Will you just talk to me?" he continued to stay silent, so she went on, "Fine, don't answer, but know this. I just don't want to see you get hurt. I know how hard losing the humans in that village was for you, and how desperate you were to see more again. I'm just saying…we don't know this child. I believe she is pure, but I just don't know. We might all get blind sighted here, and Malus may have no choice but to banish her. I fear that if you get attached to the girl of what would happen then. If she ever ran away or got killed in an accident, I'm worried about what would happen to you."

He didn't answer still, but his eyes started to lose their angry edge and fade away to blue again.

She walked forward and pawed at part of his muzzle, "My friend, I just don't want to see you brittle away. Remember what is happening to Gaius? He's breaking, and may soon be rubble if he doesn't get some hope again. I don't want another heartbreak to turn you into the same thing. So…just promise me something."  
He turned his head to her and waited for the boar to speak, "If she ever hurts you, you have to promise you'll never let the loss destroy you. I don't want to lose anyone, especially not one of my best friends. Okay? Please, I beg of you. Don't lose yourself, and don't ever blame yourself if something horrible happens to her. Promise me."

He continued to not answer for a long time, unsure of what to say.

After a while, he finally wheezed out, "I'll do my best, but I'm sorry. That isn't something…I can promise, my friend."

Her eyes dimmed and showed she was greatly devastated by his answer. Still, she turned and said mildly, "Then I wish you luck. Keep her safe, and yourself as well."

He gave her a solemn nod and she walked away, saying a something he couldn't hear to Lyna as she left. Once she exited the cavern, Dirge slithered back up to Lyna and her companion.

Nostoc had already fallen asleep, and even Dirge's movement hadn't woken him.

Lyna stood and looked to Dirge, wiping the sand from her brow, "So, Dirge, Celosia seems pretty nice. When she left, she told me we should go riding again sometime. Would that be fine?"

He glanced back to the tunnel, "Yes. I believe…you'd be more…than safe with her."  
As suspicious as Celosia was to Lyna, he knew she'd never hurt a human unless they endanger another's life.  
The sand serpent then looked back to her, "Now, child. Your stallion…needs to rest, and since…you're going to be spending a…lot of time here I need you to become…used to my presence." He slid to the center of the cave and called, "Come, let us…talk. I'm sure…you have many questions. I will …answer…what I can."

Understanding Nostoc needed to recover and excited about the thought of talking about the Forbidden Lands, she placed her cloak over Nostoc as a blanket and walked to the Colossus.


	5. History and Forbidden Words

_Not the longest Chapter, but this is important. :D Please read and review!_

* * *

_Chapter 5: History and Forbidden Words_

_Far off in the Shrine of Worship…_

_The light looks down into a mirrored pool of images. The pool is crystal clear and silvery, seen only by the light and within it._

_Dormin contemplates over the shapes that come into view, and continues contemplating them for hours._

_**Hmmn, interesting.**_

_**We didn't expect the girl to actually start befriending the Colossi. This could complicate things.**_

_**No matter…**_

_The light stares at the pool, the image of Lyna talking to Dirge._

_**How the Colossi can stand those things is sickening!**_

_**Hmph, play all thou like. We feel the change; we know our day is coming.**_

_**And when it does, we will make sure thou keep thy promise, Lyna…**_

_**We never forget…**_

* * *

"Wow, so you guys really did fight off evil millions of years ago?"

"Yes…we did…child. It's what…we were created for. 16 stone warriors…to cleanse the land."

"That's amazing…"

Dirge chuckled a bit, causing Lyna to shift. His full body was out of the sand and curled up to face her, Lyna sitting on his tail. When he laughed, she could feel the vibrations in the hollow stone. These creatures really were wonders of nature.

The look on her young, fascinated face was adorable to him.

"Now now…you and the humans then…believed so. We were looked…upon as heroes, gods even, but we are…not. We are immortal Guardians, here to protect the people…and this land from any unnatural evil. The darkness that tried to…invade this world was definitely unnatural, but we…prevailed. After the wars were…over, we took to living here with the humans. The people were grateful…towards us for their salvation. A few of us…were proud and boasted their might, most were humble, and…some were embarrassed…by the praise."

Lyna pulled her knees to her chest and leaned forward, "Which one were you?"

He sheepishly grinned and muttered, "I was…embarrassed. Too much…attention at the time. We were only…doing what we were made for…what was right…"

Lyna laughed a bit, believing the idea of a Colossus being embarrassed was absurd, "So you guys were created for different purposes too? What are they all? I only know a little from my parents."

"Well, as you know…I'm the Architect. I am…responsible for all the mountain…passages, tunnels, and stone arcs you…come across here. People needed easier…acess to other areas, so I made them. I…used to be in charge…of guarding them…from hooligans or those foolish…enough to try and break them. Children soon…started knowing better than to paint on the walls…without my consent."

"You threatened them?"

"Certainly not. I gave them a stern look and they…got the message. Some extra…scolding from their parents…and that was all it took. I patrolled often…around the passages, and scared away most predators that would cross through them. That way, people would…be safe and free from worry in their travels…through the mountains. I have no need to do so now…without humans to travel. So, I had…no direct involvement in protecting humans, but…I was praised all the…same."

He sighed the last sentence, as if the praise really did embarrass him.

Looking off to the wall, he said mostly to himself, "I do feel bad now not letting…the children paint… more on the walls or rocks. Such…creative little things, full…of life. The few paintings…I did allow are long gone…by now. What I wouldn't give…to see another…" he seemed off in another place, not focusing.

Lyna noticed he did that a lot. How sad it was…

He felt her eyes on him and turned back, quickly changing the subject, "Now, as for the other Colossi, I believe you should ask them…when they meet you. Most of us are humble, but…we are all still proud of our…titles, as hollow as they may be now. Many of the others would love to tell you their…duties, and I be damned if I ruined that…for them. Even I am…proud to admit I carved…many of the areas here."

Dirge cocked his head at her suddenly, "You know Lyna…I believe I've spoken enough…about myself. However, I know…nothing about you except your…name. Would you mind telling…me what brought…you here?"

She expected him to ask her sooner or later, but the question still caught her off guard, "Uh, well, you see I…"  
It was such a touchy subject, but he should know.  
So she stopped, took a deep breath, and spoke, "I came here because my tribe was attacked by an opposing group of other tribes. Everyone in my small village were descendants of the people born here, so we were all declared to have 'cursed blood'. We had these unusual features, even at birth." She pointed at herself to clarify, "Did the humans here really look like this?"

"Yes…tan skin, green eyes…long white hair. That's what I remember." Dirge answered, starting to become worrisome at her tale, "Continue."

"Yes, well, because there was all this superstition surrounding us, we were finally hunted down by the surrounding tribes, much like witches. They came in the night, while we were sleeping. My parents stayed behind to hinder their progress. Everyone else…Nostoc and I were the only ones that got away."

Dirge let out a long, sad hum, "Hmmn, so even the ones…that escaped perished…Lyna, I'm so sorry."

She bowed her head, "I came here, with only the clothes on my back and my mother's red cloak. I decided to go here because I knew the stories, I knew the tales my parents and others spoke of. The Forbidden Lands, the Valley of the Colossi, was the only place I could go. All of the rest of the world hated what I was, my heredity, my blood. I thought I would be safe here, in the land of my ancestors. So far though, it's been a little hard-"

She was interrupted when he brushed her forehead with his snout. It felt kinda rough, like sandpaper, used for carving hard stone. He was very gentle though, and didn't scrap her skin. He had interacted with several humans before and knew how to be soft.

He pulled his head back, eyes half open and full of sympathy, "You needn't worry, child. You're safe…here for now. You are free to…explore, but please tell me when you…leave. It makes me…worry less."

She was still a little annoyed at the idea of a babysitter, "Dirge, no offense but do I really need your authority all the time?"

"Lyna, just how…old are you?"

"I'm thirteen!" she stood up on his tail and puffed her chest out, "I'm not a baby anymore! And I know how to fight too! And hunt! My papa taught me how!"

Dirge couldn't stop another chuckle from escaping him. She was a little stubborn and spirited like any child. Ah, the wonders of human youth. Even when they were first created, or 'young' by Colossus standards, none of them were quite like this. She was even a little brazen.  
Earlier when she was screaming at him, it was annoying, but it was something to see a child talking back to an enormous stone monster.  
Some might call her foolish, but frankly he thought it was pluck.

He then shook his head in a playful manner, the movement causing her to plop back onto his tail, "No…you're not. You're a big…girl, but listen. There are several safe and beautiful places here…but these lands stretch far. You can count…on several dangerous areas…as well. Humans…knew better than to go there, but you are still…learning. I'm supposed to…protect you, and I want to. Please understand…"

Lyna huffed and crossed her arms. She didn't know why she needed to have a Guardian. She wasn't stupid. She knew as long as she used her head she could take care of herself. Still, he just seemed so determined; it would be cruel to deny him.

"Fine…" she grumbled, looking over to her still sleeping companion.

"Good, now are you…going to tell me how you got…those blood stains?" he glanced down to them, "You're not hurt…are you?"

She looked down at her stained clothes more like an afterthought, "Oh! Yes, on my way here I was-" her voice caught in her throat, her chest. She couldn't talk, she could barely breath!

Several times she tried to say the words in her head and struggled to do so, but nothing came out.

_The Oath…_

She realized that the horsemen were a part of her oath to Dormin. She would not, and apparently could not, tell anyone about her deal. The horsemen lead up to that conversation, so they would add suspicion to her encounter.

"You alright?" Dirge asked, looking her up and down.

Quickly finding her words, she was able to choke out, "I hurt myself escaping the tribes. Don't worry, I patched myself up and I'm better now. It got on my clothes though, so I really need to wash these."

Dirge's eyes flickered yellow in suspicion. He knew the human expressions for lying, but he knew to not push it. When she wanted to tell him, she would.

"Very well." He slowly resigned, tipping his tail so she could slide off.

Once her feet hit the sand, she wobbled a bit from soreness. She must have been talking to him longer than she thought.

Nostoc had finally started to stir and weakly lifted his head. The girl walked over and hugged his neck, "I'm glad you're okay, boy." He moved a bit and nuzzled her back with his chin, equally relieved for his life.

Dirge stared at them in renewed confusion if nothing else. He could never understand how fragile life was for living creatures. He was immortal, he would never die. When something he knew died, he didn't know how to react to it, no matter how many times he'd witnessed the event. Human relief over life was stronger than his, but he felt it. He felt happy the horse had lived.

Relief or worry over life at least was something he was happy he would never have to experience with any other Colossi...

* * *

Blue eyes faded to a concerned yellow as they stared up to the light. A great stone Sentry looked at the light hovering over the Shrine of Worship. It was still bright, but hadn't changed in its power. Still, he knew Dormin and how unpredictable and cunning they were.  
The Guardian of the ruined city was always cautious, and his bitter determination forced him to stare at the skies more than he ought to.

Despite its beauty, he knew of the evil behind the cold bright rays. The Sentry knew Dormin was up to something, but he just didn't know what.

* * *

_For those of you who can guess the Colossus at the end, you get a cookie. :)_


	6. Exploration

_Holy CRAP this is a long chapter. Still, I guess it makes up for the short last one.  
_

* * *

_Chapter 6: Exploration_

Celosia trotted up to Dirge's shady tunnel. Unlike yesterday, it was a bright and sunny morning. The leaves and grass were still wet from last night's showers, but the day looked less bleak than it had in a long time.

She even felt in a better mood that morning. In fact, she was in such a good mood she wanted to check on her friend to see how he was doing with the kid.

Celosia walked into the cool tunnels that lead into the sand cavern, and what she found was amusing to say the least.

Dirge was sluggishly moving around, scraping the walls with his face to shine them further.

She laughed and got his attention.

The older Colossus turned and lazily acknowledged her with a yawn, "Morning Celosia. Coming…back so soon?"

Despite what they were, sleeping was probably the most organic thing they did.

She walked to him and cocked her head, "Morning, and yes. I wanted to check up on you, though it seems she's already wearing you out."

He blinked and stared at her with annoyed, half open eyes. It was interesting. He was the only one that had eyelids, and he rarely closed them unless it was to burrow under the ground. Such big eyes were very sensitive.

It made her slightly envious, as silly as that was.

He yawned again and slowly said, "Not really. I'm just not a…morning stone, and Lyna woke me up early."

"Right." Celosia looked around the cave, but only spotted Nostoc sleeping. He was still weak and recovering from the poison, "Where is the little sprout anyway?"

"She wanted…to get out and…explore a little more. I figured it…was good for her to find…things on her own, and she was…more eager to look…around. So I let her leave. Now…I have to stay awake for…her return, or if she gets into any trouble. Even if it's…impossible for me to reach her, Dormin…damn me if that…stops my tracks. Besides, any…of the other Colossi in the area will sense the child in peril and will…rush to her aid."

"Still cautious to go up, huh?" Celosia sadly said, to which Dirge didn't respond. She sighed and looked away, "Don't worry. You'll get the nerve sooner or later."

"I've been…telling myself that for a hundred …years. I doubt it, but if…she's in danger I'll risk it."

* * *

"Come on, you stupid lizard! Get…down here!" Lyna desperately swung her sharpened stick at the black lizard on the wall. The branch hit the stone just a few feet under him, but just out of her reach. It stunned him enough however to make him fall on his back, revealing his white underside.

Excited at the thought of meat instead of fruit, she lunged towards the lizard with her hands. The animal rolled back onto his feet and scurried away before she could catch it, sending her onto her chest and stomach in the dirt, "Oof!"  
The impact hurt her chest and ribs, knocking some wind out of her. The lizard ran away into the stone entrance of the separate valley nearby, something she hadn't wanted him to do.

_Now he's going to be even harder to catch in the open!_

Muttering, she picked up her stick and went after him. This would work so much better if she had an actual weapon! Like a sword or a bow and arrow or something!

Angrily chasing him through the fields, she desperately started stabbing at him with her wooden weapon. The lizard must have been psychic, because every time she stabbed at him he ran to the side or a little ahead of her and the tip of the stick ended up going into the ground.

Frustrated to no end, she picked up the pace and kept at it, determined not let him get away. Suddenly, at the next stab, her stick didn't hit dirt but instead carved stone. This ultimately broke the primitive weapon in half within her hand.

The lizard climbed down the side of the cliff and out of sight in her momentary distraction.

She stopped and just stared at the stone. She knew she should be angry that the lizard just got away and her little spear just broke. Yet, she was so stunned that the thought she just ran across the valley on her own two feet that she was rooted to the spot.  
Slowly moving her gaze up, Lyna saw the stone actually stretch out to a floor, and that stretched out into large carved columns that lead onto a sturdy stone bridge.

Lyna stood up and dropped the stick's remains onto the ground. Curious, she cautiously took a few steps forward, each slower than the last.

She moved across the stone floor and onto the bridge section, subconsciously running her hand across the withered, metal gates that acted as rails. The bridge didn't go very far, but it lead into a deep crevice. She looked down below and saw an enormous lake below the bridge, a few rocks and ruins breaking the placid surface.  
Looking ahead, there was a beautiful spiral staircase that leads all the way down into the water. Well, it was shaped like a spiral staircase, but no steps and crafted from the same carved stone.

The staircase was separate from the bridge, but Lyna could tell it was once connected. It must have broken off after many years.

She contemplated the idea of jumping across to reach the lake below, but became apprehensive. She walked to the edge of the bridged and leaned over, her feet on the brim, trying to spot anything out of ordinary in the waters below.  
Who knew what kind of dangerous creatures or things could be living in that water? Or what if it was slimey and murky? Or what if there were sharks?

She was always afraid of sharks.

Lyna was about to decide on her next course of action, when suddenly the unthinkable happened.

The lizard, the same damn lizard she was chasing before, decided to pop up again. He peaked himself up over the edge of the bridge, crawling up onto her shoes. Startled, she tried to step back but the rain water on the bridge caused her heel to slide. The slippery action made her leg swing upwards and into the air. The lizard hopped off her other foot onto the bridge, but Lyna had no time to react. Flailing, she reached around her for anything to grab, but there was nothing within arm's length.

With a startled gasp and a cry, Lyna toppled over the edge of the bridge.

It was almost like slow motion, her fall into the water. When she finally hit it, she fell in face and shoulders first. The impact caused her head to painfully snap back, but by a miracle it didn't break. It hurt though, and stunned her for several seconds.

Long after she hit the surface, she continued to sink under the water. The lake was cool and clean, not at all icy or murky. In fact, it was pleasant, refreshing even. The pain from her neck and shoulders seemed to melt away in it.  
She was dazed, the fall clouding her mind and getting lost in the darkness of the lake as she sank further and further from the light of the water's surface.

Slowly regaining her senses, she realized she couldn't breathe and started to sluggishly move her limbs.

_Air…must get to…air…_

Moving her arms and legs up and down until they cooperated, she started to maneuver herself so that she was upright. Midway through, she paused in her quest for air. From the darkness of the bottomless lake slowly emerged two large, bright blue eyes.

The shock of something large in the water caused Lyna to suck in her breath, and as a result swallowed a bunch of water in her lungs. Choking, she frantically flailed in the water, panicking and kicking around. Bubbles went everywhere and blinded her, causing her anxiety and desperation to rise. In her struggle, she managed to find her sense of direction and swam upwards.

_Air! Air!_

Kicking her limbs as hard as she could, she reached the light and broke through the surface. She flicked her hair back from her face(think Ariel)so she can get a full breath of oxygen. Instead, the water already in her lungs came back up and she started coughing the liquid out. It was surprising she didn't' vomit.

Once she was able to breathe again, she calmed herself enough to tread the water. She wasn't the best swimmer, but at least she was able to stay afloat. It was salty, so it had to be from the ocean.

Coughing and spitting a few more times, she looked around her. The water was so still and calm, it was like a mirror. She would appreciate its beauty if she hadn't just nearly broken her neck.

Turning in the water, she spotted a nearby piece of rubble sticking out of the surface. Must be huge to reach the bottom of the lake, and it was much closer than the spiral ruins up. It was still kinda far though, and she was already getting worn out from trying to float.

Sputtering and doing the world's most awkward dog paddle, Lyna slowly but steadily started making her way to the rubble. It was all going just fine, even if the lack of a floor under the water made her feel a little vulnerable.  
Perhaps what she saw under the water was just a delusion caused from the fall.

She started to believe this theory, until she heard and felt a moan from beneath her. The vibration from the unknown voice rumbled through the water, causing the surface to ripple in several places.

Icy fear crawled up her spine and took a hold of her nervous system, causing her to shake uncontrollably.

"Okay Lyna…" she said to herself, struggling like crazy to reach the rock, "Just stay calm. It's nothing to panic about. There are no sharks in this water, right? No, you're okay. You're going to be okay…"

She moved her limbs faster to swim through the water, but instead ended up just making bigger splashes.  
In the midst of her attempt to reach the rubble, she heard another moan, this time louder and closer. Before she could think about it any further, she felt something smooth and hard push against her right calf.

Her mind snapped.

Screaming, she shot her arms straight into the air and began kicking as hard as she could downwards to scare away the creature.

Her foot hit something, but instead of colliding with fleshy skin, it slipped on the smooth surface and caused her to bang her knee hard. Yelping, she pulled her knee away and rubbed it with her left hand to ease the pain.  
Her attacker then pushed up from underneath her, lifting her out of the water and onto her back. She screamed again and began flinging her arms and legs, trying to hit anything to make it drop her, "Get away! Put me down! Put me down!"

"Calm down!" yelled a feminine, aquatic toned voice, "Calm down child! I won't hurt you!"

She stopped flailing, dumbfounded, and turned onto her chest to face her assailant. She gasped when she saw the same two blue eyes staring back at her and realized she was lying on top of a smooth algae covered snout.  
Crying out of surprise, she pushed herself off of the Colossus's face and plopped back in the water. This only was for a second before the stone monster put its head underneath her and lifted her partially out of the lake again.

This time, Lyna was slumped horizontally on her stomach on the creature's snout, sputtering and letting her legs hang on the opposite side, her toes barely touching the water.

The figure in the water moved smoothly to the rubble she was swimming to earlier. It lifted her completely out of the lake this time, Lyna just hanging there dripping, and tipped her head so the human rolled onto the rock's surface.

Coughing and wheezing, Lyna laid on her back and stared at the sky, stunned at what just happened. The Colossus soon move its head over her, water dripping from her stone face and gently splashing onto Lyna's skin, "Are you alright?" it, or she, asked, concern in her melodious voice.

The girl's eyes flickered a bit when one of the Colossus's mossy feelers on her face brushed her brow, reminding her of a catfish's whiskers.

Groaning, Lyna let her adrenaline fade to a normal level and gently started to sit up. She was a little stunned when the Colossus moved to push her up with her snout.

When she was sitting normally, the Colossus moved back to her original position and nodded. She was unable to smile, but judging by her blue eyes she was happy and relieved, "Oh thank goodness. I thought you were going to drown. It would have been so horrible to lose you!"

Blinking the salt water from her eyes, Lyna looked at the Colossus in confusion, "Wha? Huh?" squinting, it took a second for her mind to process.

The Colossus before her was beautiful. It was very long, like a snake, and she swayed and moved her body to tread the water in front of her. Her green feelers on her snout hung there loosely, and her moss and algae covered back was green and luscious. Her dark grey stone skin was smooth from the years of water and sand rubbing against it, but it was a little worn from depression just like everyone else. Her bright eyes were small but perfect for her size. From there, Lyna could see three distinct glowing orange spikes jutting from her back. One near her head, one in the middle of her back, and one near her lower back.  
They pulsed and shined, very much alive with energy.

Lyna took in a breath, realizing who she was, "Hydrus, the Water Serpent."

Still unable to smile, she gave another nod, "Indeed, dear. You would be correct."

All fear she had dissipated at the sight of her, "Wow…"

Hydrus seemed flattered by the girl's admiration and giggled. Yes, she actually giggled, not chuckled or bellowed.

Lyna laid her legs flat against the rock she was sitting on and leaned on the palms of her hands, "Just…well, hi. It's an honor to meet you Hydrus. I'm Lyna." She pushed her wet hair back away from her face, "What are you doing here?"

The Colossus seemed a little taken aback, "Well, I could ask you the same thing. This is my home, so I have an obligation to be here. You, by definition, are trespassing."

Lyna became nervous and started scooting off the rock, "Oh-oh no I-I didn't mean to-"

"It's quite alright." She giggled again, "Judging by how you tumbled off that bridge, it was an accident."

Lyna became very embarrassed and pushed one of her white strands of hair behind her right ear, "Oh, you…saw that?"

"Sure did. It was quite a plunge." Hydrus moved her head to look up at the bridge, "I'm grateful you didn't break every bone in your tiny human body from the fall. That would have been terrible."  
She looked back down to her and her eyes brightened, "I'm just so happy to meet you! I was waiting for a chance to meet you near a river or something, but never did I dream you would drop into my lake!"

Her eagerness was amusing, but slightly unnerving and caused Lyna to move backwards.

Hydrus realized she was making the girl uncomfortable and decided to tone it down a bit, "Sorry. Didn't mean to get so loud. It's just…ever since you arrived I knew it was important, the feeling I had. I was the first to see you in the fields, so I left to inform everyone I could reach."

"You…did?" she hugged her knees against her chest and leaned forward, "May I ask who?"

"Oh! Yes, well." Hydrus looked up at the sky and thought for a moment, "I told Quadratus, Avion, Gaius, and Kuromori. In fact, I asked my soul brother to greet you here! How did it go?"

Lyna winced, having to remember that encounter yet again, "Um, not well. He scared the daylights out of me…"

Hydrus for a moment seemed dumbfounded before her eyes flashed a mild orange and she threw her head up in anger, "Kuro! I told him to be nice! Is that too much to ask from him?! Ugh!" she moved her face back down in it's previous position and shook it back and forth sadly, "Please forgive my brother for his foolish outburst. I should have known he would have been less than kind."

Lyna held her hands up in an easing motion, "It's alright. If I see him again I'm sure we'll sort it out." She half lied. Inwardly, she hoped she'd never had to deal with him again. He may not be evil, but she was worried he might accidentally hurt her.

Hydrus's eyes suddenly seemed to sparkle when she happily asked, "Would you like to come with me to explore? I'm sure this could help you get more comfortable around me, and get a little used to our home. Don't worry; I'll be careful not to shock you."  
Lyna saw her electric spines die down a little bit. They still pulsed and glowed orange, but she saw no electricity. Apparently, Hydrus could decide when they would shock or not.

It was so odd, having a giant stone creature actually ask if she could play with it. Still, she would like to go, "Well, uh, sure. Just as long as we don't do anything dangerous else Dirge will have a heart attack…um, so to speak."

"Dirge?" she suddenly changed her tone from happy to interested, "Oh right, Malus told us that he's your Guardian, yes?"

"Uh huh." Lyna leaned back a bit when Hydrus moved a little closer, "How…is he?" she asked.

Lyna became a little hesitant from the invasion of personal space and carefully said, "He's alright, but very lonely. He seems very happy I'm there."

"Good, good." She sounded very relieved, as limited as her expressions were, "Thank you, so much. Dirge is a very good friend of mine and it pains me that I never see him. I'm glad he's happy."

Her tone had slightly more concern than she expected. It was still odd that the two interacted at all, what with how different they were.

Hydrus then seemed to recover and go back to her previous attitude, "Well, why stay here? Come, lets go exploring."

She leaned down and placed her head in the water to make it easy for Lyna to climb on. The young gril stood on the rock she was sitting and hopped over onto Hydrus, nearly slipping off because of the water and algae. Once she steadied herself, she sat down on the moss just behind Hydrus's head and had to crossed her legs. The green moss was very soft and felt like fuzz. It was far different than the hard stone of either Celosia or Dirge.

The Colossus then moved and started to swim to one of the walls of the large lake. Lyna had no idea what she was doing until Hydrus called, "Hang onto the moss on my back. We're going to have to go under."

Lyna became nervous at the thought of her diving, but knew she could trust the benevolent stone creature. Taking a deep breath, she hunkered down onto her hands and knees and gripped the moss in her fingers as tight as she could.

Hydrus seemed to know that Lyna was ready and dove into the blue abyss. Lyna expected horrible crushing pressure that would rip her from Hydrus, but was pleasantly surprised when this wasn't the case. Instead, they descended into the water at a calm pace. Hydrus made sure to move at a rate that was gentle enough to not hurt Lyna, but swift enough to get them to the surface in time. After all, humans needed to breathe whereas she didn't.

Hydrus dove easily under the water through the large opening in the wall that allowed her to leave the confines of her lake. Once they made it, she carefully ascended to not harm Lyna with the pressure change. Lyna didn't even notice her low air supply. She was too focused on the movement around her. Though she couldn't see, she could feel the power of the mighty Water Serpent, moving and shifting her stone form to swim through the cool water. It was an indescribable feeling; like moving with a magical being in a completely different world.

Then as soon as it began it ended when Hydrus emerged from the water, causing gravity to make Lyna plop back down onto her mossy neck. She snorted a few times and spat the salt water from her lips, but other than getting soaked again she was fine. She didn't even feel light headed from the water pressure or lack of air. Hydrus had emerged in plenty of time.

As Lyna adjusted herself back to her original crossed-legged position, she was slightly disappointed that they emerged from the water so fast. She wished they could have spent a little more time swimming around like that.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she got a look of her surroundings. They were in a large river that lead out to some kind of bay that surrounded the Forbidden lands. Hydrus shifted through the water as they moved forward, "There we are."

Like a gentle canoe ride, Hydrus slowly carried Lyna out to the ocean and swam next to the large steep cliffs that surrounded their home. She stared in awe and craned her neck to stare at the vast structures. They were sculpted with time and age, millions and millions of years old. It was like a dream to see such natural beauty.

Hydrus said with pride, "I patrol the edges of the Forbidden Lands often, child. My duty is to protect this place from any unnatural threats from the sea. This place can't be reached by any normal means, mind you, but there are magical creatures in these depths that are far less friendly than I. You would do well not to swim out too far on your own."

Lyna shuddered a bit, remembering her previous fear about sharks. What kind of sharks would the forbidden lands have anyway?

A giant stone shark with spinning teeth came to mind…

She became a little calmer when Hydrus turned and took her into another that river that ran through the land, for it would take a while to swim all around.

While they were swimming through the vast caverns, Lyna suddenly had an afterthought and she had to ask, "Hydrus? You called Kuromori your brother, and I've heard Dirge call Celosia Cenobia's soul sister. What does that mean? How can you be related?"

Hydrus shifted a bit, "Well, we're not really related per say, at least not the way you humans are. It's hard to explain, but some of us can just 'feel' a certain connection to others. We're all connected in a way, but some feel different. Kuromori feels close to me like a brother and Phalanx I see as a sister. The same goes for Celosia and Cenobia and Dirge and Basaran. Dirge and Basaran are particularly odd since those two have nothing and common and never see each other."

"Basaran? The tortoise? Dirge never told me he had a soul brother." Lyna frowned, wondering why he failed to mention that when they were talking.

Hydrus swiveled around some of the narrower canyon walls, but swam through them easily despite her size, "Like I said, they don't have anything in common. Basaran is…not the nicest. Let's just put it that way. I'd rather not talk ill about him behind his back."

Basaran being that way was certainly a far cry from Dirge's meek, if not temperamental, attitude. No wonder the two wouldn't get along.  
Yet, she had to wonder if any others were connected the same way, "What about the others? Quadratus and Pelagia? Valus and Malus?"

Hydrus let out a very loud laugh that rippled the water she was swimming in, "No, certainly not. We're the only pairs that are connected that way, and I assure you that despite the name similarities Valus and Malus are defiantly not connected that way. They are good friends and nothing more."

"I see." Lyna mumbled as the Canyon spread out into a forest area with a river large enough for Hydrus to move through.

The trees were beautiful and Hydrus slowed her movement even more to let Lyna admire the view. Some of the trees had pink flowers that seemed to be just blossoming. Hydrus said in awe, "I have swam through this passage several times, and I haven't seen the tree's flowers blooming in many years. It's as if life has returned to them."

Lyna cocked her head in wonder, curious as to why.

This thought mildly passed as they came across some of the branches, low enough for Lyna to reach. Some of the pink petals had floated down into the water and moved idly by, but a flower had not fallen. Taking this chance, Lyna reached up and plucked one of the beautiful flowers from a branch. Hydrus didn't seemed to mind and stopped swimming so Lyna could curl the blossom into her white hair, just above her right ear.  
Ever since she was a little girl, she loved doing this with flowers, especially large ones.

Once it was in, Hydrus adjusted herself to look at Lyna, to which her blue eyes shined, "Very pretty."

Lyna smiled in slight embarrassment as Hydrus moved her head back and continued their journey through the passage.

From the morning all the way into the late afternoon, Hydrus took her to every lovely area she knew, ranging from impressive canyons and empty caves to shady forest areas. Occasionally they would stop in these forests for Lyna to have a lunch break and Hydrus to rest for a little while, talking all the while about how old these passages were and how long Hydrus has been exploring them.

She was a pleasure to talk to, and many times Lyna nearly forgot she was talking to a large stone being. Hydrus was quite chatty for a Colossus, but Lyna didn't seem to mind. It made her less scary.

Late in the day, as Hydrus was talking to Lyna about how beautiful the sunset was on the ocean, she paused in her sentence and asked, "Lyna, have you ever even been to a beach?"

Lyna shook her head, "No. To be honest it was my first time seeing the ocean today."

Hydrus seemed to shake in glee and she calmly said, "Most of the surrounding bays only have large cliffs or small beaches, but there is one beach that is more than large enough to play on. May I take you there?"

Excited as any child to visit the beach for the first time, Lyna eagerly answered, "Yes please!"

Hydrus changed course and started heading to another open ocean area where she knew would take them straight to their destination. She couldn't wait for her to get there, but not for reasons Lyna knew.

The two slowly made their through the ocean water until they came across a beautiful beach. The beach was huge, more like a field, and had several old looking archways coming out of the sand. There seemed to be a stone pathway with several carvings coming out of the sand and up onto the higher land. Among the stone wall the beach was a part of was a humongous cave with what seemed to be open doors. Lyna figured it was just another empty temple that people used to visit.

Hydrus swam up as close as she could to the beach to allow Lyna to jump off. The girl happily moved off of the Water Serpent's back and fell waist deep into the ocean water. She moved up onto the sand of the beach and smiled at the sound of the ocean hitting the shore. It was a beautiful noise, and the air smelled of sea salt.

Curious, she tugged off her shoes and let the feeling of the sand and water touch her feet, making her feel like a little kid.

She turned around to Hydrus, who was not too far off from the shore. The Colossus seemed to be enjoying her happiness and seemed to urge her to play with her eyes.

The young teen let out a yay as she ran around on the sand, kicking it up and occasionally running her feet into the water. She didn't care how silly it looked. She was having a lot of fun.

After running around silly for a few minutes, a loud rumble got her attention. She turned away from the ocean and looked to the large cave. She couldn't believe how she had nearly forgotten about it in her excitement. She slowly began to move towards the cave to explore it.

She was a little nervous, but Hydrus was watching her. If anything bad happened she could always run back into the water.

As she moved towards the cave, Hydrus didn't seem to protest so she thought it would be safe, but then another rumble made her stop in her tracks. Before she could react, a huge figure suddenly emerged without warning from the darkness of the cave, yet another Colossus.

This one was hundreds of feet tall and was defiantly the biggest one she has seen so far. The large creature walked on all fours with enormous hooves that glowed white underneath. The stone on its back matched the stone of the beach's path and similar carvings adorned them. It was covered in moss and seaweed along most of his body except for his back and face. Its carved face was huge and long, looking much like a bull's with similar horns. Its eyes sparked blue as it looked down to the child only a few feet from its hooves.

Lyna's look of joy turned to shock at its sudden appearance. She screamed and fell backwards into the sand. When it reached a hoof towards her, she couldn't stop herself from yelling, "St-stay away from me!"

Scrambling, she pushed herself up off the sand and nearly fell a few times and fled to the water, but stopped when she was knee deep when Hydrus suddenly lifted her head out of the water, "No no! It's alright! Don't be afraid of him!"

Lyna had no idea what she was talking about until she turned back around. He was standing there on the beach, looking down at her quite pitifully.

She then remembered the Bull Colossus that was said to be benevolent to all who visited his beach, "Quadratus…" she whispered.

The large Guardian was known to welcome any human to his beach, and took a lot of joy in playing with the children that visited him. He was horribly saddened when they stopped coming or died out because of the plague, and had also fallen into depression.

When he saw that another child was once again laughing and playing on his beach, he was so happy he wanted to greet her, but she had run away from him like he was a monster.

Frankly, she had hurt his feelings.

Sulking, Quadratus turned to walk back into his cave when Lyna took a step towards him in the water, "Wait." She called up loud enough for him to hear.

He turned around partly to look at her with sad grey eyes. Holding up her courage, Lyna walked completely out of the water and on the beach towards him, shaking out of intimidation from his size, "I-I'm sorry. You just startled me. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, honest."  
He didn't move as she walked to him and placed both of her hands on his hoof, "Don't be sad, great one. Let's be friends?"

She hoped he could hear her all the way up there, but Quadratus had talked to many children before and had no problem hearing her, "It's alright." He boomed, his voice matching his size, "It's just I've never had a human scream and run from me. Surprised, yes, but never run away."

"The fault was mine, Quadratus." Hydrus called out, "I didn't tell Lyna this beach was yours because I wanted it to be a surprise. It was foolish of me to not predict how she would act."

The Bull sluggishly nodded and looked back to Lyna in a friendly way, "Lyna? Such a nice name. I speak for most when I say how glad I am that a human is here once again. You are a descendent of the people of the Colossi?"

"Yes I am." She smiled, his scary face become less frightening thanks to his eyes, "My parents told me you played with many of the people who came here and how nice you were. I'm really sorry again. It's just you can imagine how frightening it was to see a large creature come out of a dark cave I thought was empty."

His eyes shined so brightly that Lyna knew if he had a mouth he'd be smiling. Her smile broadened a little bit. It was really something, looking into the eyes of any of the Colossi. It was far beyond fascinating.

He then bowed his head down to her so that his face was level with hers, "I hope our friend hasn't been talking your ears off." He spoke quietly to not hurt her hearing.

Lyna giggled, "Certainly not. I'm quite chatty myself."

He chuckled a little bit and raised himself back up, "Well, you're more than welcome to play here. I don't mind. My beach is open to all, Colossi and Human alike."

She eagerly clapped her hands together, "Oh thank you!" Lyna then resumed her previous antics, running around in the sand and water.

Both Colossi watched with happiness and Lyna suddenly ran back to one of his hooves, "Tag!" she slapped it with one of her hands, "You're it!" She then stopped running and looked back up at him awkwardly, suddenly considering what she just said, "Uh, well, I mean…um…"

He was surprised but not completely. He's played this game several times before. He reached forward and gently tapped her side with his hoof, looking quite amused, "Now you're it."

She gave him a sarcastic smile and tagged his hoof yet again, "You didn't say no tag backs!"

Slowly, the Bull Colossus followed after Lyna, who discovered he didn't move very fast. Still, he didn't need to move fast, he just needed to take big steps to reach her. Realizing he took up a good section of the beach, Lyna retreated back into the water with him following. The water did nothing to slow him down as it barely reached over the top of his hooves.

Hydrus was surprised when Lyna jumped onto her snout and worked her way back onto her head, just behind her eyes, "Quick! He's chasing me!" she squealed joyfully.

Understanding the game, Hydrus scooted back a bit in the water, easily able to keep Lyna out of Quadratus's reach. The older Colossus laughed, "Hey! That's not fair! You're helping the enemy! Oh Hydrus I thought we were friends!"

"Sorry! She got to me first!" Hydrus joked, remembering back to when she played with the Humans on Quadratus's beach.

He moved to them, nearly knee deep now, and Hydrus easily circled around him, chasing each other for a long while.

At the end of the day, just a few hours before the sun would set; Lyna was worn out from the playing at the beach.

When the time was to leave, Quadratus seemed sad but Lyna promised him she'd visit again. This seemed to satisfy him and he said goodbye to Lyna and Hydrus as the Water Serpent took the child back to land. She took her back to her lake where she dropped Lyna off at the spiral staircase.  
After another promise to visit, Lyna make her way out of the lake and back to the fields where she chased that lizard.

She was a little annoyed she had to walk back to Dirge's cave on foot, but it wasn't too far.

Once she finally got back, the cool cave was a welcomed change from the hot day. When she walked into the cave, she was surprised to nearly get rammed by a very eager Nostoc. He was overjoyed that his master had come back safely.

She hugged her companion and was glad he was feeling better.

She looked away from him and saw Dirge and Celosia talking not too far away. She was surprised that the smaller Colossus had visited again so soon, but was glad she was keeping the Sand Serpent company.

Walking with Nostoc, she approached the two Colossi, who happily greeted her. Nostoc and Lyna both sat down, with her against his flank, and she proceeded to quickly tell them about her fun day.

* * *

The entire time she spoke, Malus watched with his magic. He had been watching how she interacted with the other Colossi and would continue doing so until he felt it was time to talk to her himself. He not only did this out of her safety, but it was also to keep tabs on her.

Despite her innocent appearance, the Titan was having a hard time trusting anything that spoke with Dormin.

* * *

_I'll always remember my first time at the beach. Kicking up sand like I didn't care. XD_

_Fun Fact: I based Lyna's frustration over catching the lizard a lot on my sister's own experiences during the game. It was funny as heck.  
_


	7. Avid Curiosity

_HI! I'm back!  
_

_Sorry for the slow progress, been very busy lately. This is a very long Chapter. Tell me what you think!  
_

* * *

_Chapter 7: Avid Curiosity_

"I'm telling you, this one is different!"

"Is she really? Hmph, I doubt I'll be impressed. She's just a human after all."

Avion sighed at the great Sentry Colossus, Argus, getting very annoyed. She had seen the child playing with Hydrus and Quadratus the other day, and had seen her riding with Celosia. Obviously, she wasn't an invader or one who meant them harm, and seemed special because she was able to interact with them in such a friendly way. Yet she still wasn't able to convince the stubborn Sentry.

Argus cocked his large head to Avion, who was perched on one of the stone archways of his ruined city's valley, "Why come to me Avion and try to convince me so hard? I'd think you'd be trying to sway Kuromori."

She did an annoyed head roll, "Oh please, that immature idiot doesn't have a rational stone in his body."

Argus noted the fresh scorch marks on her stone wings and singed moss, "Let me guess, he blasted you out in the open when you tried, didn't he?"

She grumbled a bit and Argus just laughed.

Avion huffed and turned her attention back to him, "It doesn't matter. The point is I'm trying to convince some of you that this child is harmless and you should treat her with respect. I just don't want to see you guys get in trouble if you decide to chase the girl off."

"Oh? And how did that little speech go with Basaran?"

She answered with more grumbling to which Argus's eyes became a brighter amused blue, "Same thing?"

Avion rolled her wings a bit, "Clipped my left wing pretty good. He wasn't kidding when he said his aim had improved."

Argus let out a loud laugh this time, "That was stupid! You know he doesn't like visitors! Even less so than I!"

Avion became annoyed and said loudly, "Look, all I ask is that you be nice to the child! We don't need the only human here getting scared off by ill tempered fools like you!"

He stopped laughing immediately and stared sternly at Avion, eyeing her with mildly orange eyes. He took insults to his intelligence very personally.

Avion shifted nervously on the archway, knowing full well that Argus wasn't above wrecking part of his own city if he had a score to settle with anyone, Colossi included. The Sentry was easy to anger, and she should have watched herself.  
"Please Argus?" she tried to say in a respectful tone, "Just as a favor to a friend?" The Eagle Colossus wasn't eager to get attacked yet again by another Colossus.

Instead, the Sentry snarled, "We were never friends."

This caused her eyes to turn orange in return and the two glared at each other until Argus continued, "I won't do this for you, but I'll do it for Malus because I respect him and him alone. I'll be good, mostly."

She resigned herself and sighed, "That'll do I suppose."

Argus hated children, even when they lived in his city, but it was the closest cooperation she was going to get out of him. At least he was being far more cooperative than Kuromori or Basaran.

Deciding to leave before he changed his mind and knocked her off the arch, Avion lifted her great stone wings and took to the sky, leaving the Sentry Colossus behind in his ruined city.

* * *

That morning Lyna was busy making a spear staff from a sturdy branch she had found. She had spent hours carefully using rocks to carve the wood how she wanted without making it too weak or breaking it. She carved the weapon just as her father showed her.

Finally, when it was how she wanted, she was satisfied, but then came the hard part. She now needed a spear tip made of sturdy stone and strong rope to bind it to the rock.

The rope was easy to do as all it took was plant fibers and they were already in a forest area. This was the same place Lyna had come to when she and Celosia found those white flowers.  
Lyna got up to look around the area and found some suitable plants. Tugging as many as she could, she gathered enough to make a good plant fiber rope and put the bundle in the pocket of her black pants. She wanted to at least find the rock first before she started making the rope.

The child walked back over and sat down in her original position then looked behind her to Nostoc, who had been grazing in the shady forest area they were in.

"What do you think boy? Know any good stones nearby?" she more or less asked this to herself, as she knew Nostoc was just as clueless as she.

The white stallion lifted his head up and idly shook his head at her, as expected, "Well, worth a shot." She joked.

Lyna looked around herself, but all she saw were regular rocks either too weak, too small, or too big to be suitable enough. She needed something that was already about the right shape and size, but where?

The young teen leaned back in the grass and pondered a little bit. She thought back to all the wonderful places Hydrus showed her two days ago, and the rocks around Dirge's cave. Though those places were nice, much of them were inaccessible without swimming and she doubted Dirge would be able to carve a small enough stone for her needs. Besides, even if he could the Sand Serpent would probably not be willing to give up a piece of stone. He was very protective of the rocks, after all.

She considered going back to Hydrus and asking for another ride when the sound of the waterfalls began to dawn on her thoughts. Slowly, she turned her head back to the beautiful area, Misty Falls, and thought for a moment.

_Maybe there's flat stone there._

She figured it'd be worth a shot, at the very least. If she found the stone she was looking for, then she wouldn't have to make the long trip to Hydrus. If she didn't, well at least she got to see the falls like she wanted.

Suddenly becoming excited at the thought of more exploration, she stood up and fastened the unfinished spear to the belt of her mother's cloak on her back.

Once she was ready, she hopped onto Nostoc and made him carefully trot out of the wooded area down the stone path lining the mountain wall. Once they reached the end of the path where it met one of the stone pillars next to Misty Falls, Lyna jumped off of Nostoc and passed a peculiar looking shrine, similar to the one back at Dormin's Shrine. Still, she paid no attention to it and instead stood before the stone pillar.  
She remembered Celosia's warning about the strong current and that she'd have to swim to reach the center area.

She inspected the pillar and noticed a rim that was just large enough to allow her to shimmy around it. Perhaps if she ended up on the other side of the pillar she had a lesser chance of meeting a watery grave.

Working up enough courage, Lyna took a deep breath and turned to Nostoc, "Go back to the meadow boy. I'll be right back, I promise."

Nostoc seemed to hesitate, but he knew he wouldn't be able to accompany her and obeyed his master's orders. The horse turned around and trotted up the stone path and out of view back into the forest.

Lyna sighed and turned back to the pillar. Swinging her arms a few times, she flung herself upward and latched herself like a spider against the old rock. She panicked for a moment when her fingers slipped, but used all her upper body strength to keep herself up.  
Driven by pure ambition, Lyna managed to slowly shimmy her hands on the rim of stone to circle around the pillar and onto the other side. However, before she was ready to let go and jump into the water, her right hand slipped from the stone.

Yelping, she fell backwards and instead of hitting water hit something hard on her back. With the wind knocked out of her, she turned to see she had landed on an edge that lead out a little ways from the pillar and far enough from the falls so she wouldn't get swept away by the current. Perhaps this was part of a path years ago that allowed people access here.

Relieved that she could take the safer route, she got on her feet and double checked her spear, but it wasn't broken.  
Satisfied, Lyna walked down the ledge as far as she could until there was no more stone to walk on. Knowing that now she was going to have to swim the rest of the way, she looked ahead and saw a lake that was the source of the water for the falls. The whole area was confined, no other entrance in sight other than the one she took. The path to the lake from the falls looked like a big trench.  
Enormous large arches were far over the trench and were very impressive indeed. Then again, that seemed to be a running pattern here.

There seemed to be various stone platforms in the lake, but they were too far to see and most of them were blocked from her view thanks to the stone trench.

She took off her mother's cloak and placed it on the path so she wouldn't risk losing it in the falls, but kept the belt with the unfinished spear on her back.

Getting a running start, Lyna leapt into the clear water. When she emerged, she was surprised that the water wasn't salty. It must be fresh water from the mountains somewhere.

She smiled at the feeling though. It was always so fun to jump in a cool river on a hot day.

With renewed spirits, she swam, still very awkwardly, towards the lake area.

After what seemed like forever, she finally reached the lake and the nearest flat platform, a mossy rock with several blue stones coming out of it, and pulled herself on top. Taking deep breaths, she sat still for several moments.

_Swimming must have taken more out of me than I thought…_

It's only been a few days and the 13 year old was feeling like she had gotten more exercise than an adult could in a week.

Wringing the water out of her long white hair, Lyna threw it out of her face and looked around. The vast lake wasn't nearly as big as Hydrus's, but it was still a good size. It was of course seemingly bottomless, and the stone platforms varied from flat plates to temple-like monuments. She was sitting on a mossy platform, the only one in fact.

There was something wrong about this lake though. A kind of mist covered it and surrounded her. It was more than dead looking, like the rest of the lands. It was…eerie. She felt even as she was sitting there she wasn't alone.

Trying to keep her thoughts off of that, she idly looked down to the rock she was sitting on and was surprised to see a few flat rocks lying here and there on the moss. They looked about the right size and shape she needed for her spear. She was so excited she outwardly exclaimed, "Oh what luck!" before she began searching through them.

She came across many that would have been suitable, but weren't QUITE right. She had a specific rock in mind and she would do what she could to find it. The girl was taught at a young age that a huntress was only as good as her weapon.

And then, she found it.

The perfect stone. It was a large, smooth black rock that already had a point to it. She smiled gleefully at the thought of finding the rock for her spear and became very proud of herself that she was able to do it on her own.  
And yet, it still needed to be sharpened more.

She glanced over to one of the peculiar large rocks that seemed to be jutting out of the one she was sitting on. The blue rocks were very weird and varied in size, lined up in a semi circle pattern near her. She had no idea why, but other than their formation they seemed normal. She needed a surface to sharpen her spear tip on.

_Maybe one of them is hard enough to do the job._

Positioning herself on her knees, Lyna began scraping the black stone on one of the blue rocks, the one in the middle, imitating the method her father showed her.

But as soon as she rubbed the spear tip against one of the blue rocks the entire platform she was sitting on shifted, leaning roughly forward and nearly knocking her off into the water.

Lyna stopped rubbing the rock completely, but the stone beneath her continued to shift with increasing intensity. She instantly remembered Celosia's words.

"_You may be surprised that some of the rocks you sit on move."_

The child began to pale at the realization of what she was sitting on, "Oh…god."

She tried to jump off but it lifted up before she could. Panicking, she grabbed onto the blue rocks as support as the rock leaned to a fro until she was raised high up.

Having a good idea what she was going to see, she leaned over the side of the elevated platform and could see two large glowing horns coming out of what seemed to be the ridged stone face of a Colossus.

Before she could call down to it, the Colossus could feel something on its head and flung back to get it off.

Lyna made a small cry of surprise when she was thrown from its head and down its mossy back. The smooth moss made it slippery like a slide and she was unable to stop herself from going into the water. It didn't hurt since it was a slanted way in and not a plunge.  
Luckily, she had clung onto the spear tip and kept holding onto it when she emerged from the water and quickly swam to the nearest stone platform. Pulling herself onto her hands and knees and catching her breath, she stopped moving completely when she heard slow movement in the water.

Afraid to even look up and praying it was a friendly Colossus, Lyna turned her gaze from the stone she was on to the creature.

She nearly had a heart attack when she realized the stone monster was way too close for comfort, looming over her. It was another huge one, possibly bigger than Quadratus, and was extremely peculiar.

Its back, though slanted into the water, was pretty flat. If it were to lie down completely, it'd probably be a flat platform you could run on. The blue rocks on its head kinda made it look like it was wearing a crown of some sort. Horns that curved like tusks jutted out of the sides of its head, and the Colossus was hunkered over in a very awkward pose that looked uncomfortable, like a person with a hunched back. If she could see it fully, it probably walked on all fours. The brown and black stone of the Colossus matched the platforms around her, like expected.

It took a few seconds before she realized something very scary.

The Colossus before her had no face!

It only had a huge 'mask' for a face and no eyes! Just its glowing horns that she discovered glowed blue like a Colossus's eyes. Does that mean it sees with its horns? Or was it blind? Or was it blind but used the horns like sonar?

Whatever the case, she knew who it was immediately when she saw the mask, but was too scared to say his name out loud.

_Pelagia._

Now, as far as she knew, Pelagia wasn't a bad Colossus, but was not really known to be a good one either. He was more of curious, said to simply watch the people who visit his home. She knew the Colossus lived in a lake, but had no idea it was at Misty Falls. If she did, she wouldn't have come here. Stories of Pelagia scared her as a kid. The thought of a silent Colossus without a face made him seem unpredictable, because you just couldn't tell what he was thinking.  
Granted, Colossi expressions were very limited, the most expressive probably being Dirge. However, at least you _had_ a face to look at; it was quite different with something that had no expressions at all.

It's part of what made him so dangerous, and why he had various interpretations. Pelagia didn't have a definite title, sometimes he was even called the Great Basilisk, but the most popular term seemed to be the Masked One.  
Because of his silence and people's tendency to stay away, Pelagia was the least known of the Colossi, even more so than Dirge.

Now, with the way he was looking at her, she knew exactly how her ancestors must have felt visiting the falls. No wonder a lot of times they didn't want to come back.

She stared at the Colossus's mask; and of course Pelagia just stared back at her. It was a very tense silence for several seconds that stretched on for a few minutes.

All the while, Lyna couldn't stop thinking over and over.

_What's he going to do?_

Without warning Pelagia took a step towards her platform, making her jump, "S-stop!" she cried.

The Colossus seemed confused but obeyed and only stood there, staring more.

Occasionally, he would tilt is head to one side, or to the other, or shift himself here and there. It was like he was trying to get a good look at her.

Lyna began to sweat, her heart going a mile a minute and feeling even tinier on her platform.

Pelagia only continued to stare at her in silence. What was he thinking? Was he upset that she was trespassing? Would he chase her out? Would he blast her out? Pelagia was one of the Colossi that could shoot energy, right?  
He may not be allowed to kill her, but that didn't mean he wouldn't singe her pretty good.

Deciding to defuse the situation before it started, she awkwardly shifted on the platform, "H-hi there, b-big guy." She tried not to sound afraid, and boy did she fail at that.

Pelagia nodded his head at her, acknowledging her greeting.

That was a good sign. Perhaps she could still get out of here with no burns. Carefully choosing her words, she decided to be as nice as she could to him. Maybe he wasn't really silent and could talk after all, and just needed someone to talk to, "Uh, I'm sure you already know from Malus who I am. Would you like to tell me about you?"

He seemed to bow his head in a way that suggested that he couldn't answer her.

It was true. He really was a silent Colossus.

Deciding to not make it worse, she tried to explain herself, "I'm sorry I woke you. I thought you were just another platform. You see, I was making a spear for myself."

She pulled the unfinished weapon from the belt on her back and held it out to show him, but when she did he immediately became aggressive.

The Colossus's horns changed from their blue glow to orange, like Colossus eyes, and it made a groan.  
It was a pretty quiet one, for someone of his size, and sounded very muffled and weak. He didn't have to be loud to be a threat though and Lyna froze.

_What's his problem?! Does he think I'm going to attack him?_

Slowly, Lyna decided to make her next movements as calm as possible. No need to set the stone Basilisk off any further.  
Carefully, she leaned down and placed the wooden staff on the platform, laying it away from her to show that she wasn't going to use it against him. This seemed to calm the Colossus as his horns dimed back to a less aggressive orange, but he was still upset with her.

She realized she was still holding onto the sharp black rock. He must have thought she was going to attack him with it. Gulping, she stood back up and held her hands out in a passive manner, showing him the rock, "It's okay. See? I won't hurt you."

It wasn't like any mortal weapon could hurt them, could they?

However, despite his caution, the Colossus seemed to trust her enough for his horns to die down to a dim blue.

Releasing her breath from her chest, Lyna was slightly relieved and continued her explanation, "W-well, I was making my spear and I was almost done, but I needed a sharp spear tip and I thought one made of stone would be more effective than just sharpening the wooden staff."  
The teen turned her hand upward and held the stone out to him, "I found this on your back and I knew it would be perfect, but it wasn't sharp enough so I…." she stopped and looked to the odd blue stones on his head, "I-uh-I tried to sharpen the rock on your crown. I'm sorry Pelagia."

His head cocked to the left at the mention of his name, but very slowly he nodded it. His horns began to return to their previous shade of blue and his position became less aggressive.

Once he was calm again, he shifted back in the water and continued to stare, going back to the tense silence.  
Pelagia was so frightening, and he wasn't even glaring at her, he couldn't glare at her. He was eerie and strange, much like the lake they were on.

Lyna still didn't like the staring, but at least he wasn't angry with her anymore. But now there was another problem.

What to say now?

Looking around, the tense silence became more of awkward when she didn't know what else to talk about.  
Since he seemed to still be interested with her presence, she decided to try and finish her spear. She'd have to be careful though. It would be bad to make him angry again.

Carefully, Lyna squatted on the platform until she was able to sit down in front of the staff of her spear. The entire way down, she kept her eyes on Pelagia.

He didn't seem to mind and just watched with what seemed to be avid curiosity. It was not comforting at all.

The young girl tried her best to keep calm as she crossed her legs on the platform and took her eyes off of the silent Colossus to work on her weapon.

She glanced up to him when she picked up her spear, waiting for any aggressive act against her. The stone creature stayed passive though and nodded, giving his approval.

This really helped her nerves. For some reason, Pelagia now believed she really didn't mean him any harm.

Feeling a little better, she looked down to her unfinished weapon and inspected it. It would need something strong to tie the rock to the end, and even if she found something the rock still needed to be sharpened.

Luckily, she had kept those plant fibers from the forest with her and pulled them out of her pocket. She had to wring them out a few times. This didn't dry them all the way, but the fibers were suitable enough to begin weaving.

The Colossus continued to stare on in rising interest as she began a very elaborate, complex rope weave from the plant fibers. Lyna continued to carefully bind the plants together like she was taught, making sure no fiber was out of place and double checking to keep it from unraveling.

While she was doing this for a few minutes, her mind suddenly wandered back to the Colossus. He had been silent, of course, but really silent. Was he still staring? Surely he would have gotten bored by now and dove back under the lake. But wouldn't she have heard him?

Hesitant to look, she started biting her lip out of nervousness and moved her head back at him.

This resulted in her nearly biting her bottom lip clean off when he was uncomfortably close to the rock, watching even more intently with his head craned down towards her.

Sure he was quiet, but she hadn't even heard him move in the water!

Though she didn't bite through her lip she did bite it hard enough to break the sensitive skin, causing an inadvertent, "Ow!"

She kept one hand gripped on the rope to keep it from unraveling and used the other to touch her fingers to her bottom lip. A few drops of blood trickled down from her mouth and onto her fingertips. Holy crap it hurt a lot.

She heard an odd type of moan and jumped when Pelagia moved his level slightly downwards towards her, the glowing blue of his horns turning bright concerned neon.

Not wanting him to get any closer, she immediately raised her hand to him, blood on her fingertips still, "No no!" she sucked her lip a few times to stop the blood, "That's okay! I'm fine! Really!" She was lying through her teeth because her lip really did hurt.

He didn't seem to believe her, but he did notice he was making her uncomfortable. So he moved backwards a little bit and left her to her work.

Lyna appreciated the free space and washed her bloody fingers off in the lake water, then went back to weaving. However, though she started again, she felt a little bad.

The Colossus didn't mean to make her bite her lip. He was just curious.

Figuring it would be okay to at least sate his curiosity and ease the thick tension between them, she decided to start talking to him again, "Do you want to know what this is?"

She held the rope weave out to him and he immediately nodded, happy she was going to tell him since he wasn't able to ask.

The teenager began weaving again and said, "This is called a reverse wrap. My mama and papa showed me how, see?" she scooted in her cross legged position so that she was facing him directly and demonstrated the rope weaving by pinching the fibers in the right way and using her other hand to twist them towards her, tightening the loose fibers together, "It's really hard to learn. It took me a lot of hours to get it down when I was little, but I got it and it really makes some good rope."

Pelagia nodded out of interest, and she felt a little better and decided to continue talking to him, "Are you able to do this with bigger rope?"

The Colossus seemed hesitant, but instead of answering with a nod or a shake, he lifted his entire huge arm from the water. Lyna watched in fascination at the size of the long, elegant limp. In the sunlight she could see that he had no fingers, just an odd circular shaped hoof.

It figured. She hadn't come across a Colossus yet with proper fingers anyway.

Realizing she just stuck her foot in her mouth, she dipped her head, "Sorry."

The Colossus lowered his limb back into the water and shook his head, showing he wasn't offended at all. At least he didn't' seem prone to anger unless it was some form of hostility.

When she raised her head back up to him, something peculiar happened. Pelagia imitated her movement and made his head face hers directly. She had no idea what he was doing, but when she cocked her head to the side out of curiosity he copied her, cocking it at the same angle slowly after.

She frowned.

_What's he doing?_

When she shifted a little, he shifted with her. It was so odd.

Having to know what was going on, she asked, "Are you copying me?"

When he nodded, she frowned again, "Uh, why?"

Of course he couldn't answer and seemed to only move his head to the side in admiration.

Slowly, she started to realize why and she said with an uneasy tone, "Are you…fascinated by me?"

When he gave her another nod, instead of being frightened she was intrigued.

Why was a Colossus actually fascinated by her? Of all people? She's seen the others look at her with lost hope, but never actual intrigue.  
Surely, he was far more interesting. He was a Colossus. A living stone creature, millions of years old, yet he was fascinated by something as simple as a human girl.

She thought about this for a moment. It seemed Pelagia wasn't just curious about humans, but admired them for some reason. There was something about people that seemed to catch his attention. What the appeal could be to a Colossus she could never understand.

When she cocked her head again and he copied her, she let a giggle escape her. It was actually a little cute. She never thought she'd think Pelagia, of all the Colossi, was cute.

He seemed to shift at her giggle and his horns became a bright happy blue color. She was a little less afraid now, but still unnerved. Adjusting herself on the platform in a comfortable position, Lyna continued weaving.

This went on for another 15 minutes, occasionally making small talk with the Colossus. They stayed in silence for a long while, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as before. She was starting to get used to the Colossus's presence, and he seemed content to watch her work.

When she finally was able to finish the weave, she knotted the end to keep it from unraveling and inspected her work.

Now came the next part.

Looking around her, the platform she was on wasn't nearly rough enough to sharpen the spear tip. The smooth stone was worn by water and time, it would do no good. Still, she didn't have much of a choice here.

Getting on her hands and knees, she hunkered over and began scraping the rock against the platform, and as expected it did nothing. It was like rubbing two pieces of glass together, it wasn't going to work. Still, she continued to rub the rock for a few minutes.  
This was in vain and caused her to instead bruise her fingers. Annoyed beyond all reason, she sucked on her now sore fingers and looked to Pelagia, who of course watched the whole time.

She knew that if he could express it, he'd defiantly be amused. Embarrassed, she pulled her fingers out of her mouth and whined, "What? Come on this rock refuses to sharpen! This platform is doing no good."

Just when she was about to give up and look for something else to sharpen the spear tip, Pelagia once again moved towards her. She nearly jumped to her feet but instead watched with bewilderment as he lifted his head down so that his chin was touching the water, only a few feet from her now and in arm's reach.

Pelagia moaned at her, but Lyna had no idea what he was trying to tell her. He wasn't annoyed though. He was a more than patient Colossus.

He nudged her platform a few times with his mask but it only confused her more. He did this a few more times, but she shook her head, "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you want."

He jerked his head a few times, seemingly motioning to the rock in her hand. Slowly she understood what he was doing, "Do…you want me to use you to sharpen this rock?"

He gave her a small nod but she immediately refused, "Oh no I couldn't! I don't want to scuff the lovely stone on your mask." The stone looked pretty smooth, but also rough enough for her to use against the spear. Still, she didn't want to damage his face.

Pelagia shook his head and seemed to want to help. He wanted to assist the kind human girl. No human had ever stayed around him this long before, not even back then. They were all too afraid of his appearance and curious personality.

She hesitated for a few minutes. She really didn't want to bother him, but he was offering here. Why would she refuse his help?

Nervously, she stood up and placed the rock against the bottom rim of his mask. He tilted slightly at the touch, but other than that remained still. She put pressure on the rock and began to scrap it at a specific angle.  
To her relief, the scrapping didn't seem to damage the stone on his mask at all. Lyna smiled and continued to sharpen the spear tip against the quiet Colossus's mask. He didn't seem to mind and kept very still so she could do it right.

She sharpened the rock for another ten minutes, occasionally smiling up at Pelagia and causing his horns to turn blue.  
Once she was done, she carefully tested the point. She didn't have to break the skin on her fingers to know it was more than sharp enough.

Excited, she quickly tied the spear tip to the staff with the fiber rope she made and fastened it tightly with her teeth.  
Happily, she held the spear out at arm's length to admire it. She had helped her parents make weapons and tools before, but never made one on her own.

Quite proud of herself, she turned to Pelagia and did a respectful bow, "Thank you, great one."

He seemed to beam as he pulled away from her. When he did, she thought he was going to stare more but instead he submerged himself unexpectedly.

The sudden disappearance made the water go over the platform and up her ankles, but she paid no attention and stared, "Uh, bye?"

She was a little disappointed he had left so suddenly, but it wasn't like he could actually say goodbye.

Lyna looked back to the falls and considered leaving when he suddenly came back. He broke the surface of the water only a few feet from her and caused a tidal wave that nearly threw her from the platform.

The young teen was pretty annoyed, getting soaked again. That annoyance went away when Pelagia tilted his head and dumped a pile of shiny rocks in front of her that were resting on his mask rim.

They were beautiful stones and she only stared as he used the rim of his mask to push them aside until he found a specific one. The Colossus carefully pushed it to her and moved back so she could see it.

It was a pretty blue rock, the color of a robin's egg and was about the size of one.

Lyna was astonished and looked up to him, "Is this for me?"

He nodded and patiently waited for her response.

To be honest, she was speechless. How was she supposed to react when such a creature gave her a gift? It was truly humbling, to say the least.

She finally found her voice and picked up the stone. The rock was smooth and shined brightly in the sunlight. Fascinated, she stroked it with two fingers, "I-I don't know what to say."

Lyna looked up to him and smiled. Pelagia wasn't mean at all, just a very curious Colossus. He was probably very fascinated by humans, but of course if he just sits there and watches or spies on people they get uncomfortable and don't want to be around him.

In a way, he might be pretty lonely. His loneliness might not run as deep as Dirge's, but it still hurt.

She reached up and stroked the smooth rim of his mask, "Just…thank you. It's beautiful."

His horns glowed such a bright blue she thought they were going to explode with energy.

Then he backed away and slowly submerged back to the water, seemingly knowing that she had to leave. Once again, he was strange.

She waved him goodbye and fastened the finished weapon to her back. Once she made sure it was secure and the blue stone safe in her pocket, Lyna jumped in the water and made the trip back to the ledge where she came from.

She couldn't wait to tell Nostoc and Dirge who she had met today. Though, she'd leave some of the more dramatic details out for Dirge's sake.


End file.
